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fully occupied in pursuit of the Proteus, which sailed with such celerity that she had little to fear; but unluckily, she carried away some of her spars, which so retarded her progress that she fell into the hands of the English, together with three transports. Such was the success of Rodney's expedition to Gibraltar. It was celebrated in England by unusual rejoicings, as well on account of its real inportance, as because it was the first good news which had arrived for so long a time. The parliament voted public thanks to George Rodney.

Thus England, while she defended herself, on the one hand, against her enemies in Europe, prepared herself, on the other, to attack at once the republicans upon the American continent, and the. French and Spaniards in the West Indies. Her resolution in the midst of so many perils, and such powerful foes, became the object of universal admiration. Her constancy was compared to that of Lewis XIV. who nobly faced the coalition of all Europe against him. She was declared to imitate the still more recent example of Frederic the Great, who had withstood all the efforts of the most formidable confederacy. Even those who had the most openly blamed the conduct of the British government towards its colonies, were now the very men who most extolled her present magnanimity. But thinking men better appreciated the truth; if they commended the firmness of the British monarch, they neither compared him to Lewis XIV. nor yet to Frederic the Great. They reflected that England, being an island, cannot without extreme difficulty be attacked in its interior parts, and in the very elements of its force; and that naval battles are never so decisive as those of land. It cannot be denied, however, that the ardor and intrepidity of the British nation seemed to increase with all the dangers of its position. The most formidable antagonists of the ministry suspended their attacks, in order to devote themselves exclusively to the necessities of the state. 'Let us first triumph abroad;' they exclaimed, we will then settle this controversy between ourselves.' In the country, as in the most opulent cities, a multitude of private individuals engaged to advance large sums in order to levy and organise troops. Nor private subjects only, but political and commercial bodies vied in promptness to offer the state their voluntary contributions. The East India Company presented the government with three ships of seventy-four guns, and a sum sufficient to raise and maintain six thousand seamen. Extraordinary bounties were given to those who presented themselves to serve the king, by sea or land. This lure, together with the love of country and hatred for the French and Spaniards, drew sailors to the ships in multitude; upon the whole surface of the kingdom the militia were seen forming themselves to the exercise of arms. In a word, all Great Britain was in motion to combat the Bourbons.

The people of Europe who had thought at first that she would find it difficult to resist the formidable forces which that House had marshalled for her destruction, began to believe that so much courage and firmness might be crowned with victory, or at least render the struggle still for a long time dubious, and consistent with her safety.

END OF BOOK ELEVENTH.

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1780. I HAVE now to describe an obstinate war, remarkable for its numerous encounters and variety of success, and one which, perhaps, more than any other, has demonstrated how uncertain is the fate of arms, how inconstant the favor of fortune, and with what pertinacity the human mind can arm itself in pursuit of that whereon it has fixed its desires. Victory often produced the effects of defeat, and defeat those of victory; the victors frequently became the vanquished, the vanquished the victors. In little actions was exhibited great valor; and the prosperous or unfortunate efforts of a handful of combatants had sometimes more important consequences than in Europe attend those terrible battles, where valiant and powerful nations rush to the shock of arms. The Carolinas saw no cessation of this fierce conflict, till by numberless reverses the cause of Great Britain began to be considered altogether hopeless upon the American continent.

Sir Henry Clinton, as we have related in the preceding book, had departed from the state of New York for the expedition of the Carolinas; the first object of it was the conquest of Charleston, the reduction of which, it was calculated, would involve that of the entire province. He took with him seven to eight thousand men, English, Hessians and loyalists. Among them was found a corps of excellent cavalry, a species of force very essential to the success of operations in open and flat countries. Clinton had likewise taken care to fill his transports with an immense quantity of military stores and provision. The English moved towards their object, animated with extreme ardor and confidence of victory. The winds and sea were at first highly favorable; but there afterwards arose a most violent tempest, which dispersed the whole fleet, and greatly damaged the most of the vessels. Some arrived about the last of January at Tybee, in Georgia; others were intercepted by the Americans. One transport foundered with all its lading; the horses, both artillery and troop, that were on board, nearly all perished. These losses, distressing at any time, were grievous and next to irreparable, under the present circumstances. They moreover, so retarded the enterprise of Charleston, that the Americans had time to put that place in a state of defence.

All the dispersed corps at length reassembled in Georgia. The victorious troops of Savannah received those of Clinton with a high flush of spirits; all exerted themselves with emulation to remedy the disasters sustained in the passage. When all their preparations were completed, that is, on the tenth of February, they set sail in the transports under convoy of some ships of war. Favored by the

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winds they soon reached the mouth of North Edisto, a river which empties itself into the sea at a short distance from the Isle of St. John, upon the coast of South Carolina. After having reconnoitred the places and passed the bar, the British army landed, and took possession first of the above mentioned island, and next, that of James, which stretches to the south of Charleston harbor. It afterwards, by throwing a bridge over Wappoo Cut, extended its posts on the main land to the banks of Ashley river, which washes the walls of Charleston. From Wappo Cut it was intended to pass the troops in gallies and flat boats to the left bank of the Ashley, upon which Charleston stands. But the delays occasioned by the events of the passage having given the Americans time to erect new fortifications and to reenforce the garrison, Clinton determined not to undertake the siege till after having drawn a reenforcement from general Prevost, stationed at Savannah, whom he accordingly directed to send him twelve hundred men, including the greatest number of cavalry possible. He had likewise written to Kynphausen, who, after his departure commanded in the state of New York, to forward him with all expedition, reenforcements and munitions. A few days after, general Patterson joined him with the troops from Georgia, after having endured excessive fatigues, and surmounted the numerous obstacles thrown in his way not only by swoln rivers and miry roads, but also by the enemy, whose light detachments. had hung on his left flank from Savannah to far within the frontiers of Carolina. Meanwhile, Clinton intrenched himself upon the banks of the Ashley and of the adjacent arms of the sea, in order to secure his communications with the fleet. During this interval colonel Tarleton, of whom there will be frequent mention in the course of this history, an officer of cavalry, as skilful as enterprising, had repaired to the fertile island of Port Royal, where employing money with the disaffected and force with the patriots, he spared no exertions for the acquisition of horses to replace those lost in the passage. If he could not collect as many as the exigencies of the service demanded, yet the success much surpassed his expectations. Thus, about the last of March, every thing was in preparation for commencing the siege of Charleston; the British army was separated from the place only by the waters of the river Ashley.

On the other hand, the Americans had omitted none of those preparations, whether civil or military, which they deemed the most suitable for a vigorous defence; although, in truth, it had not been in their power to effect all that was requisite to meet the danger of the emergency. The paper currency was so out of credit with the inhabitants of South Carolina, that it was excessively difficult to purchase with it the necessaries of war. The want of soldiers was felt with equal severity. The militia, impatient to enjoy repose after the painful operations of Georgia, during the preceding winter, had disbanded and retired to their habitations.

Another motive also discouraged them from marching to the succour of Charleston; and that was, the fear of the smallpox, which it was known prevailed in that city. Moreover, the six

regiments of the line, belonging to the provinces were so enfeebled by desertions, diseases, battle, and the expiration of engagements, that all together did not amount to a thousand soldiers. It should be added, that many of the Carolinians were induced to profit of the amnesty offered by general Prevost, at Savannah, some through loyalty towards the king, others to preserve their effects from pillage. In effect, the English put to sack and devastation, without lenity, the property of all those who continued to serve under the banners of Congress; and, besides, the victory of Savannah had penetrated minds with a great terror of the British arms. The major part were reluctant to immure themselves within a city which they believed little capable of resisting the assaults of so audacious an enemy.

Such was the penury of means to which South Carolina was reduced; the Congress displayed not much more energy. They had been seasonably apprised of the designs of the English, and would fain have averted the storm they saw going to burst upon South Carolina. But, on the one hand, the weakness of the army of Washington, which a great number of his soldiers had abandoned at the termination of their engagement; on the other, the force of the garrisons which Clinton had left in the state of New York, rendered it unadvisable to detach any effective succour to Charleston. Nevertheless, to support by words those whom they were unable to assist by deeds, or under the persuasion that the people, reanimated at the peril which menaced South Carolina, would voluntarily fly to arms, the Congress wrote to the chiefs of that province, to arm themselves with constancy, for it was intended to send them a reenforcement of nine thousand men. But the fact proved that they could only send fifteen hundred, of the regular troops of North Carolina and Virginia. The Congress despatched, besides, two frigates, a corvette, and some smaller vessels, to maintain, if possible, a communication by sea with the besieged city. The Carolinians were also exhorted to arm their slaves; a scheme, however, which was not put in execution, whether because of the universal repugnance that was felt to such a measure, or because there was not at hand a sufficiency of arms for the purpose. Notwithstanding this coldness of the citizens, the magistrates of Charleston, encouraged by the presence and words of general Lincoln, who directed all that concerned the military part, held a general council, in which it was resolved to defend the city to the last extremity. Yet more, knowing how important in the operations of war, and especially in all cases of emergency, is the unity of measures and power, they conferred a sort of dictature on John Rutledge, their governor, giving him authority to do whatever he should think necessary to the safety of

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