REVOLUTIONARY WAR (_continued_), 1780.
Sir Henry Clinton left the South, believing that the revolutionary
spirit there was so nearly quelled that but little apprehension need be
felt regarding it. And as if to strengthen this opinion, a decided
victory was gained very soon by Lords Cornwallis and Rawdon (afterwards
the Earl of Moira), over the combined American forces, under Baron de
Kalb and General Gates, at Camden.
General Gates had been sent by Washington, with a strong force from the
North, for the relief of the southern provinces. The season was
unhealthy; they marched through a barren and disaffected country, were
greatly in want of food, and eating unripe peaches and green corn which
soon produced disease, their numbers were sadly weakened and thinned. In
the meantime De Kalb, with the Delaware and Maryland regiments, marching
south with the same object, suffered equally, collecting their own
supplies on the march—lean cattle from the canebrakes and Indian corn,
the only grain of those regions.[32]
The approach of Gates raised the hopes of the patriots of South
Carolina, and Colonel Sumter, who had fled with his partisan-band to
North Carolina, on the late triumphs of the British, returned with his
fearless followers and made successful attacks on the British posts;
while Marion, another bold leader, issuing from the swamps of the Lower
Pedee with a number of only half-clad men, began to attack their
outposts with equal success. These partisan-bands having joined Gates,
he advanced from Clermont, about thirteen miles distant from Camden, on
the 5th of August, with the intention of surprising the British camp;
while Cornwallis, who had, on his junction with Rawdon, assumed the
command, was advancing from Camden with the design of surprising the
Americans. The next morning by break of day the two armies encountered
each other. Although the Americans greatly outnumbered the British,
Gates’ militia, which were new to the field, on the first charge of the
British bayonets threw down their arms and fled, General Gates and
Governor Casswell being fairly carried off the field by the fugitives,
whom they could not rally. In vain did the better disciplined and more
experienced regiments of Maryland and Delaware sustain their ground with
firmness, and even compel the enemy to retire; they too, being attacked
in flank and De Kalb their leader mortally wounded, were broken and
fled. The pursuit lasted for twenty-eight miles; every corps, says
Hildreth, was scattered; men and officers, separated from each other,
fled singly or in small parties through the woods. The road was strewn
with killed and wounded. Arms, knapsacks, broken-down wagons and dead
horses scattered the road for many miles. Of the Americans, 900 were
killed, and about the same number taken prisoners, many of whom were
wounded. The British lost only between 300 and 400 men.
A few days afterwards disastrous news reached Gates, and about 200 men,
the collected fragments of his late considerable force, now assembled in
the Valley of Wateree in North Carolina, about eighty miles from the
scene of their terrible defeat. This was, that Sumter, having fled with
his followers to the same district, had been pursued by the rapid and
merciless Tarleton, in whose furious career more than half his cavalry
had broken down. Coming with the remainder in hot speed upon the camp of
the partisan leader, who, believing himself safe, had relaxed his guard,
he had been surprised, his prisoners released, 300 of his own men
captured, and 150 killed, while he himself narrowly escaped with his
life.
The Carolinas might now be considered subdued, for no organised American
forces remained within them. To make the subjection more complete, and
to awe the spirit of insurrection which had shown itself on Gates’
approach, Lord Cornwallis adopted measures of extreme severity. Orders
were issued to hang every man now found in arms, who had formerly taken
British protection, and several such persons having been discovered
among Sumter’s followers, they were accordingly hanged on the spot. The
property of all such as had left the province to avoid the British rule,
and of all that held commissions under congress, was declared to be
sequestrated, and Gadsden and forty other of the principal inhabitants
of Charleston, suspected of having corresponded with their friends in
arms, were put under arrest and sent prisoners to St. Augustine.
These extreme measures, however, failed of their intended purpose. A
reaction, as was sure to be the case, followed. The people, who had been
awed into subjection, were now exasperated to revolt. Marion again had a
ragged but formidable band under his control among the swamps of the
Pedee, and Sumter presently collected a new force with which he harassed
the north-western districts, and in which he was aided by volunteers
from the mountains. Both were now commissioned as generals, and a
guerilla warfare was kept up by them.[33]
Nor was the public reaction confined only to the men—it raised the women
of South Carolina into heroism. They gloried in being called
“rebel-ladies,” refused their presence at the scenes of gaiety offered
them by the conquerors of their cities, and occupied themselves instead,
in visiting and relieving the sufferings and wants of the wounded
soldiers, and encouraged their husbands, sons, or brothers, still to be
“rebels,” and die, if it must be so, rather than submit to the British.
Nor was this noble patriotism confined only to the South. Mrs. Willard
assures us, eloquently, that patriotism glowed in the hearts of women
throughout all parts of the country, and that they displayed great
activity in collecting materials and making clothes for the soldiers. In
Philadelphia, a society for this purpose was formed, at the head of
which was Martha Washington, the wife of the commander-in-chief. All
this was as it should be, but not more than we have a right to expect
from the daughters of a parentage so worthy as was that of many an
American. The earth’s best blood was in their veins. The daughters of
those pilgrim-mothers who left their native land to establish purer and
more Christian homes in the American wilderness, could not so belie
their ancestry as to fail in the charities of womanhood.
But we now come to a dark passage, which forms a strong contrast to the
patriotism of the above.
The utmost gloom hung over the American affairs in the North. France had
once more, it is true, under the influence of La Fayette, who now
returned to America, sent over a fleet and a considerable number of
troops, to co-operate with the republicans; but nothing as yet had been
done. So doubtful indeed did it appear, towards the autumn of 1780,
whether the army could even be maintained for another campaign, that
Washington was anxious, while he had yet any forces under his command,
to strike some decisive blow, and he accordingly proposed to Count de
Rochambeau, the French general, who lay with his troops at Newport, to
make an attack on New York. In order to concert this proposed plan,
Washington went to Hartford, and during his absence a scheme of treason,
in the very bosom of the American camp, came to light, which fell like a
thunderbolt on the country, and which has so much interesting detail
connected with it, that we must be allowed to give it somewhat fully,
and in doing so we will principally follow the excellent American
historian Hildreth, and the Annual Register of 1781.
In September, a plot was laid for betraying the important fortress of
West Point, and other posts of the Highlands, into the hands of the
enemy, the traitor being no other than Arnold, the most brilliant
officer and one of the most honoured in the American army. Arnold,
however, with all his fine qualities as a soldier, was a man of an
overbearing and reckless spirit; he had in many cases shown great want
of integrity and disregard of the rights of others; nevertheless his
valour and his many brilliant achievements had cast his faults into the
shade and placed him in command at Philadelphia. There, however, as we
have already mentioned, his conduct had given rise to much
dissatisfaction. He occupied the best mansion in the city, and lived in
so expensive a style as to become involved in debt, to free himself from
which he entered into mercantile and privateering speculations. This
mode of living and these speculations led to the interference of
congress, and the sentence of a reprimand from the commander-in-chief.
His debts and moneydifficulties caused him to request, but in vain, a
loan from the French minister. The same causes had already led him to
open a correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, though how this was first
commenced, and through whom carried on, is not known. When, however, he
was satisfied that the treacherous purpose he had in view would be
satisfactorily entered into, and in order to enable him to accomplish it
most effectually, he solicited from Washington the command in the
Highlands, and Washington, who, spite of Arnold’s faults, had confidence
in him, and who was glad to show this after the humiliation he had just
laid upon him, placed that important trust in his hands.
The peculiar circumstances of these highland strongholds at this crisis
must be borne in mind. The failure of the French fleet with regard to
the attack on New York having overthrown all prospects of active
operation on the side of the Americans for the present season,
Washington stationed his army for the winter in these very posts, on
each side of the North River, where, besides security, they had an
opportunity of watching the motions of the British and repressing any
incursions from New York. In this arrangement, the strong and very
important post of West Point, with its neighbouring dependencies and one
wing of the army, were intrusted to the custody and conduct of General
Arnold.
In order to arrange the terms of the bargain, an interview was necessary
with some confidential British agent, and Major André, with whom Arnold
had already carried on a correspondence under the feigned names of
Gustavus and Anderson, volunteered for this purpose. The outlines of the
project were that Arnold should make such a disposition of the wing
under his command, as should enable Sir Henry Clinton to surprise their
strong posts and batteries, and throw the troops so entirely into his
hands that they must inevitably either lay down their arms or be cut to
pieces on the spot. Nor was this all; other consequences followed: the
remainder of Washington’s army would thus he laid open to the joint
attack of the British forces both by land and water, so that nothing
would remain for the American cause but slaughter, rout, dispersion and
final ruin. Such a blow, it was deemed, would be irrevocable.
Independent of the loss of artillery, magazines and stores, such a
destruction of their disciplined troops and of their best officers must
be immediately fatal.
If a presentiment of woe falls like a great cloud over the sensitive and
occult spirit at the approach of evil, we may well understand why the
mind of Washington at this moment was overcast by gloom and
apprehension. A few hours after he had gone to Hartford, under great
depression and anxiety, the necessary steps were taken for the
accomplishment of this stratagem of evil. The British sloop-of-war
Vulture, with Major André on board, having already ascended the Hudson,
and lying now some few miles below King’s Ferry, a boat was sent off by
Arnold at nightfall, which brought André on shore and landed him on the
west side of the river, just below the American lines, where Arnold was
waiting for him. It was morning before the arrangements were completed,
and then Arnold persuaded André to enter the American lines and remain
secreted all day in the house of one Smith, the person who had brought
him on shore. In the meantime the Vulture, having attracted the notice
of the American gunners, had found it necessary to change her position,
and probably from the dread of discovery, though the true cause has
never been really known, Smith refused to take André back to the ship at
night as he had engaged to do.
On the second day, therefore, towards sunset, laying aside his uniform,
which he had till now worn under a plain surtout, assuming an ordinary
dress, and being furnished with a pass from Arnold, in the name of John
Anderson, he set out on horseback, with Smith for a guide, and having
passed through a remote part of the camp, and all the guards and posts,
in safety, they crossed King’s Ferry and spent the night with an
acquaintance of Smith’s. The next morning, the guide having conducted
him safely across Croton River, left him to pursue the rest of his
journey alone. He had now to pass through a district some thirty miles
above the Island of New York, known as “neutral ground,” a populous and
fertile region, infested by bands of plunderers, called “Cow-Boys and
Skinners.” The “Cow-Boys” lived within the British lines, and bought or
stole cattle for the supply of the British army. The rendezvous of the
“Skinners” was within the American lines. They professed to be great
patriots, making it their ostensible business to plunder all who refused
to take the oath of allegiance to the State of New York. But they were
ready in fact to rob anybody, and the cattle thus obtained were often
sold to the “Cow-boys,” in exchange for dry goods brought from New York.
By a state law, all cattle driven towards the city beyond a certain line
were lawful plunder, and a general authority was given to arrest
suspicious travellers.[34]
In passing through a place called Tarrytown, André was stopped by three
young men, John Paulding, David Williams and Isaac van Wert, on the
look-out for cattle or travellers. His passport at first seemed to
satisfy them, and they allowed him to proceed. He had not, however, gone
many yards, when one of them on recollection was so forcibly struck by
some peculiarity in the stranger’s manner or countenance, that he
peremptorily insisted on returning with his companions, and examining
more strictly. This second thought on his part was fatal to André.
André, not used to, or not prepared for such an encounter—or, as he
himself said in his letter to Washington, too little versed in deception
to practise it with any degree of success—offered his captors a
considerable purse of gold, a valuable watch, or anything which they
might name, if they would suffer him to proceed to New York.
His offers were rejected; he was searched, suspicious papers were found
in his boots, and he was carried before Colonel Jamison, the commanding
officer on the lines. The papers found upon André, who still maintained
the name of Anderson, a supposed inhabitant of New York, were found to
contain precise accounts of the state of the forces, ordnance and
defences of West Point and its dependences, with the artillery orders,
critical remarks on the works, the amount of men on duty each day,
together with interesting particulars, which had been laid before a
council of war by the commander-in-chief. Although these papers were in
the handwriting of Arnold, Jamison, unable to believe that his
commanding officer was a traitor, forwarded them by express to
Washington at Hartford, and sent the prisoner to Arnold, informing him
of his assumed name, his passport, and that papers of a very suspicious
character had been found upon him. Circumstances favoured Arnold in
various ways. Major Talmadge, who had been absent, returning at this
moment, retained André, though the letter went forward to Arnold, and
the express, with the papers themselves, sent to Washington, missed him
on the road, he being then on his return to Hartford. Washington’s
aides-de-camp, who preceded him, were breakfasting with Arnold when
Jamison’s letter arrived. Pretending that it was an immediate call to
visit one of the forts on the other side of the river, Arnold rose from
table, called his wife up stairs, told her sufficient to throw her into
a fainting-fit, mounted a ready-saddled horse, rode to the river-side,
threw himself into a barge, passed the forts, waving a handkerchief by
way of flag, and ordered his boatmen to row for the Vulture. Safe on
board, he wrote a letter to Washington, declaring that the love of his
country had been the ruling principle of his life; but the main purpose
of the letter was to ask protection for his wife, whom he declared
innocent of what he had done.[35]
When André found that Arnold had escaped, and that no means of delivery
remained for himself, he wrote a letter to Washington, avowing his name
and character. The imputation of treachery and the dread of appearing in
the base light of a spy, appeared worse to him than death. Strange, that
a noble nature, such as André’s unquestionably was, had not perceived
from the first that the whole transaction was base, and that he was the
tool of a second Judas. The burden and shame, however, of the
consequences of his act bowed him down to the very dust, and he now
besought of Washington that to whatever fate a rigorous policy might
doom him, a decency of treatment might be observed which should testify
that, though unfortunate, he was branded with nothing dishonourable, and
that he was involuntarily an imposter. André was examined before a board
of officers, and upon the very story which he himself told he was
pronounced a spy, and as such was doomed to speedy death.
Sir Henry Clinton used the utmost efforts to save him, but the manly and
frank behaviour of André, and the amiable character which he bore,
pleaded for him more than all these, or than the letter which Arnold
wrote to Washington on the same subject, threatening the severest
retaliation if the life of André were taken. The public heart
sympathised with him, but martial justice demanded his life, and his
last prayer that he might be shot rather than hanged was denied. And it
was right so far, that if it be justifiable to take human life, and this
were a crime of which death was the penalty, the quality of the offender
should make no difference; on the contrary, perhaps, even in proportion
as his nature was pure and generous, so could there be the less excuse
to him of a dull perception between a base and a noble action; and the
intended treachery of Arnold was base in the extreme.
The day after the sentence was passed, Oct. 2nd, it was carried into
execution, and the dignity and composure of the criminal is said to have
excited the utmost admiration, while it melted all hearts. The sympathy
which André excited in the American army, says the British chronicler of
this event, is perhaps unexampled under any circumstances. It was said
that the whole board of general officers shed tears at the drawing-up
and signing the report, and that even Washington wept upon hearing the
circumstances of his death. All those about him treated him with the
most marked attention, with the greatest kindness and the most
scrupulous delicacy.
There is a touching pathos in the whole sad history, and a calm dignity
in the behaviour of all parties, the offender and the offended, which
elevate humanity and are deeply affecting to contemplate. Nor as
regarded Arnold, the willing Judas of American liberty, was this noble
Christian dignity compromised. Washington sent Mrs. Arnold to her
husband at New York, who was himself obliged to confess his obligation
to the commander-in-chief for the kindness and protection which she had
received from him, as well as the many obligations she was under to the
gentlemen of his family. The clothes and baggage which he had sent for
were likewise forwarded to him, but as regarded all other matters, his
letters and himself were passed over without the smallest notice.[36]
Somewhat later, however, when he had published an address to the
inhabitants of America, calling upon them to “surrender to Great
Britain, and to be no longer the tools and dupes of congress and
France,” his name was publicly placed by the executive power of
Pennsylvania at the head of a list of ten traitors, who were summoned to
surrender by a given day, or to be subjected to all the pains, penalties
and forfeitures of high-treason. Beyond that, Arnold was dead to the
country; the magnitude of his offence placed him below her recognition.
For himself he received £10,000, and was made a brigadier-general in the
British army. He was also authorised to raise a corps of cavalry and
infantry among the disaffected, who were to be clothed and fed like the
other troops in the British service, and to whom a bounty of three
guineas per man was given, besides payment at full value for horses,
arms and accoutrements. All these being intended as strong baits in
opposition to the distress, want of pay, hunger and nakedness of the
republican army.
As regarded the treachery of Arnold, Washington took immediate measures
to protect his camp and works from its consequences; but it did not
appear that he had any party in the army; no defection followed, and the
example tended probably rather as a warning than otherwise.
During these events in the north, the two hostile parties in the south
had not been inactive. General Gates, who had not sustained in South
Carolina the reputation which he gained by the surrender of Burgoyne,
was superseded by General Greene. Both Lee and Steuben were ordered to
the south, as well as Kosciusko, who acted as engineer.
In September, Cornwallis detached Colonel Ferguson to the frontiers of
North Carolina, for the purpose of encouraging the loyalists to take
arms. A large number of the most profligate and abandoned repaired to
his standard, and under the conduct of their leader committed atrocious
excesses. This roused the country; the militia were out; and a force of
mounted backwoodsmen, armed with rifles and their provision at their
backs, led by Shelby and Sevier, afterwards first governors of Kentucky
and Tennessee, and joined by various partisan corps, marched against
Ferguson, who was advancing towards the mountains. On the first tidings
of this formidable force Ferguson fled, pursued by 1,000 of the best
mounted and surest marksmen out of double that number; and so rapid was
the flight and the pursuit, that in thirty-six hours the
mountaineer-backwoodsmen dismounted but once. Ferguson, finding escape
impossible, chose a strong position at King’s Mountain, on the Catawbee
River, the boundary line between North and South Carolina. The attack
was furious and the defence exceedingly obstinate; but, at length,
Ferguson being slain, and 300 of his followers killed or wounded, the
survivors, to the number of 800, threw down their arms and surrendered.
Ten of the most obnoxious of these were immediately hanged as traitors,
an outrage which was soon richly retaliated. After this the backwoodsmen
retired as rapidly to their homes, and their victory, when trumpeted
abroad, raised the sinking spirit of the South.[37]
Again Marion and Sumter were in the field, and the ubiquitous Tarleton,
with his rapid cavalry, was despatched first against one and then the
other. Marion was driven back to his swamps; and Sumter, having joined
with other partisan corps in an attack on Fort Ninety-Six, defeated and
took prisoner Major Wemyss, after which, having received intelligence
through a deserter that Tarleton and his troop were out in pursuit, he
took up a position on Blackstock Hill. Tarleton, after a severe loss,
was obliged to retreat, leaving Sumter severely wounded, and in
possession of the field. The close of the year was now approaching, and
Sumter being conveyed to a place of safety, his followers dispersed.
On December 2nd, Greene joined the American army at Charlotte and
assumed command. He found the troops without pay, and their clothing in
tatters. There was scarcely a dollar in the military chest, and
subsistence was obtained by impressment; nevertheless he entered at once
on active operations; determining, however, rather to harass the British
army than, in the present weak condition of his troops, to risk a
general action. But it was not the army alone which was on the alert.
All the scattered settlements of Whigs and Tories were in hostile array,
and pursued each other with almost savage fury. The excitable
temperament of the South gave to the struggle a more terrible character
than it had in the North. Everywhere were small parties under arms, some
on one side some on the other, desperately bent on plunder and blood.
At the close of this year England was satisfied with the progress which
her arms had made in America; no ground of any consequence was lost in
the North, while in the South, Georgia was entirely subdued and the
royal government re-established. The possession of Charleston, Augusta,
Ninety-Six and Camden, supported by an army in the field, secured entire
control over the populous and wealthy parts of South Carolina. North
Carolina was full of Tories, impatient to acknowledge the British crown
on the arrival of Cornwallis. The three southern states were incapable
of helping themselves, and the North, exhausted and penniless, was in no
condition to help them. The colonies seemed almost sinking under the
accumulated pressure of this long-protracted struggle. England, in the
meantime, assailed by three European nations, and sustaining a war
against two hemispheres, America and the East Indies, was putting forth
energies and voting supplies on the most immense scale, as if the very
demand increased her powers of exertion. The siege of Gibraltar, under
its commander Elliot, was going on; great battles were fought on the
West Indian and European seas; fleets and armies went to the East and to
the West, and the new year commenced with preparations in all these
various and remote scenes of action for new enterprise, for new effort.
As regarded America herself, France, in addition to the troops under
Rochambeau, sent out a large fleet at the commencement of this year,
under the Count de Grasse, which, after having performed certain service
in the West Indies, was to co-operate with Rochambeau and Washington on
the coast of America.
The state of affairs, however, was most anxious and critical, and
calculated to create the most serious alarm. Although the efforts made
during the past year, and the late successes in the South, had revived
the public spirit, still no sufficient or permanent means had been
provided for supplying the increasing wants of the army. The country
seemed upon the brink of ruin. Nor can any situation be imagined more
painful than that of the American congress at this moment. The enemy had
advanced into the heart of the country; they had important militia
operations to carry forward, but were wholly without money. Their bills
of credit had so completely lost their value, that they had ceased to be
a legal tender, and were not received even in payment of taxes. In this
emergency their agents, as already had been done, were directed to
borrow from France, Spain, and Holland. They resorted to the unpopular
measure of taxation, the tax being apportioned among the several state
governments, by whose authority it was collected; and in order as much
as possible to introduce economy and to prevent disorder, waste, or
peculation, they appointed Robert Morris of Philadelphia as their
treasurer, a man whose pure morals, ardent patriotism, and great
knowledge of financial concerns, eminently fitted him for this important
station.
The zeal and genius of Morris soon produced the best results. A national
bank was established, wealthy individuals were induced to deposit here
their funds, and by borrowing in the name of government from this bank,
and pledging in return the taxes not yet collected, he was enabled to
anticipate them, and command a supply. He also made use of his own
credit, which was good, and bills were in circulation at one time,
bearing his signature, to the amount of £100,000. Franklin also obtained
a loan of 4,000,000 of livres from the court of France, which likewise
gave its guarantee to Holland for a loan of 10,000,000. Spain refused to
lend money unless she received a monopoly of the navigation of the
Mississippi, which was steadily refused.[38]
So far a better prospect dawned, but before the effects were perceived
to any extent, an alarming revolt took place among both the
Pennsylvanian and the New Jersey troops, the causes of which were the
exact terms of their enlistment, and the want of necessaries. The
Pennsylvanian troops, to the number of 1,300, abandoning their camp,
commenced their march to Princetown, where congress was sitting, that
they might lay their grievances before it. On their way they were met by
emissaries from Sir Henry Clinton, who wished to entice them into the
British service; but indignant at this attempt to corrupt their
fidelity, they seized their tempters and gave them up to General Wayne
to be punished as spies. At Princetown they were met by a committee from
congress, which, fearing the effect of this revolt at this moment,
relieved their necessities in part, and allowed such as claimed their
discharge on a three years’ service, to leave the ranks, which most of
them did. To their credit, however, be it said, that when offered a
reward for apprehending the British emissaries, they nobly refused it,
saying, they wanted no reward for doing their duty to their country
against her enemies. The revolters in New Jersey did not, however, come
off so well. Washington, determined to put a stop to further
insubordination, despatched at once a force on which he could rely, from
West Point, under Colonel Howe, which suddenly surrounding the camp of
the insurgents, compelled them to submission, and two of their leaders
being tried by court-martial and shot, there was no more revolt in the
army.
In October of this year, General Leslie sailed from New York, with 3,000
men, to reinforce Lord Cornwallis, and lay for some time at Portsmouth
on the Chesapeake, to be in readiness against North Carolina. On the
news, however, of Ferguson’s defeat, he proceeded to Charleston, and
shortly after—in fact, at the very commencement of 1781—Sir Henry
Clinton despatched the traitor, now Brigadier-General Arnold, to occupy
Portsmouth and to make a diversion in Virginia, not doubting but that
the force of his name and character would attract great numbers to the
British standard. The force under Arnold amounted to about 1,700, most
of them loyalists, a small corps of 200 having been raised in New York
by Arnold himself, together with a considerable number of armed vessels.
Arriving in the Chesapeake, and leaving a sufficient force at
Portsmouth, Arnold ascended the James River, and commenced a series of
ravages on the unprotected settlements. Governor Jefferson called out
the militia, but the white population were so scanty and scattered on
their distant plantations, and were so much occupied in keeping their
slaves in order, that the call was hardly obeyed, 200 only appearing for
the defence of Richmond, the capital.
Arnold entered without opposition, and immediately commenced to destroy
the public stores, as well as many public and private buildings, after
which he retired to Portsmouth, which he fortified and made his
head-quarters. A plan in the meantime was formed by Washington to
capture him and his army. La Fayette was sent down into Virginia, and at
the earnest request of Washington, the French fleet stationed at Rhode
Island, with a number of French troops on board, sailed to co-operate
with him. The British, however, being apprised of this project, Admiral
Arbuthnot sailed from Gardiner’s Bay in Long Island, where he had lain
with his squadron all the winter, attacked the French fleet off the
capes of Chesapeake, and compelled it to return to Rhode Island. The
British squadron entered the Chesapeake, and shortly after, a
reinforcement of 2,000 men being sent from New York to Portsmouth,
Arnold, happily for himself, was delivered from the imminent peril which
had threatened him of falling into the hands of his countrymen. The
British frigates ascending the rivers of Virginia, levied contributions
upon all the tide-water counties. One of these vessels entering the
Potomac, reached Mount Vernon, the home and plantation of Washington,
whose manager, to save the buildings from destruction, supplied a
quantity of provisions, greatly to the displeasure of the American
commander-in-chief when he heard of the fact.[39]