XL. refused the terms he demanded. The British pushed their CHAPTER operations with energy; the third parallel was completed; the American works were full of breaches; the ene- 1780. my were evidently preparing for an assault. A new negotiation resulted in the surrender of the garrison, May 12. the Continentals to march out with colors cased, and to lay down their arms as prisoners of war; the militia to be dismissed on their parole to take no further part in the contest, and to be secure in their persons and property so long as that parole was not violated. Gadsden, the lieutenant governor, and five of the council, were included in this capitulation. Governor Rutledge, with the other three counselors, had left the city, at Lincoln's earnest request, before the investment was complete. In possession of the capital of South Carolina, Clinton sent off three expeditions; one northwardly, across the Santee, against Buford's regiment of the Virginia line, on its march for Charleston; another toward Augusta ; and a third toward Camden and the upper district. A circular was issued, calling upon the loyally disposed to form a militia, and to help in re-establishing the royal government. A proclamation followed, threatening ex- May 22. emplary severity and confiscation of property as the penalty for appearing in arms against the royal authority. A second proclamation offered pardon to all who returned June 1. to their allegiance, except such as "under mock forms of justice had polluted themselves with the blood of their loyal fellow-subjects." Informed of the expedition sent against him, Buford retreated rapidly up the northeast side of the Santee; but Tarleton made a forced march of a hundred and five miles in fifty-four hours, and overtook him at Waxhaws, near the boundary of North Carolina. Attacked with impet- May 29. uosity, the regiment was totally defeated. No quarter CHAPTER was given; a hundred and thirteen were killed on the XL. spot, and out of two hundred prisoners, the greater part 1780. were badly wounded. Buford escaped with a few of his men, but the regiment was completely broken up. British loss was only eighteen. The The two other British detachments, in their march through the state, nowhere found even the shadow of resistance. Every where they received the submission of the inhabitants, some of whom gave their parole, as the people of Charleston had done; while the rest, less scrupulous or less patriotic, took the oath of allegiance as June 3. British subjects. By a new proclamation, all paroles, except of those actually taken in arms, were discharged, and no choice was allowed but to take the oath of allegiance or to be treated as enemies. The conquest of South Carolina thus completed, Sir Henry Clinton returned to New York, taking a part of the troops with him, but leaving Cornwallis with four thousand men to hold and to extend the recent conquests. The heat of the weather, and the difficulty of obtaining supplies, retarded the movements of Cornwallis. His troops were subsisted by seizures of corn and cattle from the hostile without any compensation, and from the loyal on certificates of the British commissaries. The numerous Loyalists of North Carolina had been advised, by emissaries sent among them, to gather their crops and to keep quiet till the autumn, when the British army would march to their assistance. But, impatient of the severities to which they were exposed, they flew at once to arms. Of two considerable parties which assembled, one was attacked and dispersed by General Rutherford, at the head of a detachment of militia; the other, amounting to eight hundred men, succeeded in reaching the British posts. XL. Most of the southern Continental troops had been in- CHAPTER cluded in the capitulation of Charleston. There now remained in the whole southern department only a single 1780. Continental regiment, Porterfield's, of the Virginia line, which had stopped short at Salisbury, in North Carolina, on the news of Lincoln's surrender. Before hearing of the surrender of Charleston, Washington, with the consent of Congress, had already detached De Kalb, with the Delaware and Maryland regiments, for service at the South. Conveyed by water from the head of Elk to Petersburg, in Virginia, they marched thence for the Carolinas. All the Continental troops raised south of Pennsylvania were henceforth attached to the southern army, and all the money paid in by those states was specially appropriated to the support of that department. Shortly after the departure of the Maryland and Delaware troops, news was received at Washington's camp April 26. that a French fleet and army might speedily be expected on the American coast. This news was brought by La Fayette, who had spent the winter in France, and by whose persevering efforts this aid had been obtained, and the promise, also, of a supply of arms and clothing. To put Washington in a condition to co-operate, the states were urgently called upon by Congress to pay up at once ten May 19. million paper dollars of their over-due quotas. Supplies, indeed, were urgently needed; there was almost a famine in the camp. Two Connecticut regiments broke out into open mutiny, threatening to march home or to help them- May 22. selves. A circular to the states from the committee at camp, and another from Washington, pointed out the ne- June 22. cessity of sending forward immediately their quotas of men and specific supplies. In this emergency, Congress again resorted to the expedient of selling bills on Jay. As Laurens had not yet XL. CHAPTER sailed on his mission to Holland, John Adams, who was now again at Paris as commissioner to negotiate for peace, 1780. was instructed to accept the bills drawn on Laurens; and, as a means of meeting these acceptances, he was further authorized to attempt the negotiation of a Dutch loan. At this time of need on the part of the army, Robert Morris, Clymer, and some other citizens of Philadelphia, having received a deposit of bills on Jay as a support to their credit, and an indemnity in case of loss, formed a joint stock, or bank, as it was called, the object of which was, without any profit to themselves, to transport to the camp a supply of provisions. Those concerned in this bank belonged to the Republican party, as they called themselves. The Constitu- 1 tional party, not to show less zeal, availed themselves of their majority in the Assembly to invest President Reed with authority to proclaim martial law, should such a step become necessary in order to meet the requisitions of Congress. In the midst of these efforts to prepare for active operations, Kniphausen, commanding the British forces at June 6. New York, landed at Elizabethtown with the bulk of his army, and advanced into the country toward Springfield. Finding the American army in his front, he retired after burning a few houses. Clinton arrived soon after with his troops from Charleston, and, with a column of six thousand men, he also advanced on Springfield, which Greene was guarding with a detachment about fifteen hundred June 23. strong. After a sharp action, the enemy forced the bridge over the Rahway, a small river which covers the town. The Americans lost seventy-two men, killed and wounded, and the village of Springfield was burned. But Greene posted his troops on the heights in the rear so as to stop the enemy's further advance. Washington ap XL. prehended other incursions of the same sort; but Clin- CHAPTER ton's main object was to secure a convenient spot for refreshing his troops, worn out by the winter's campaign 1780. in Carolina. With that purpose in view, he withdrew again the same day into Staten Island. In accordance with La Fayette's announcement, seven July 10. ships of the line, besides frigates and transports, with a French army of six thousand men, the first division intended for the American service, presently arrived at Newport. Judicious measures had been taken to prevent disputes. Rochambeau, the commander of these troops, was directed to put himself under Washington's orders; and on all points of precedence and etiquette, the French officers were to give place to the Americans. Washington had hoped, with the assistance of this French force, to attack New York. But his ranks were still very thin; and there was a great deficiency of arms, owing to the non-arrival of the promised supply from France. Six British ships of the line, which had followed the French fleet across the Atlantic, presently arrived at New York. Having now a naval superiority, instead of waiting to be attacked, the British proposed to attack the French at Newport, for which purpose Clinton em- July 27. barked with six thousand men. The French threw up fortifications, and prepared for a vigorous defense; the militia of Connecticut and Massachusetts marched to their assistance; Washington crossed the Hudson with his army, and threatened New York. As Clinton and Arbuthnot, the admiral, could not agree upon a plan of operations, the British troops were disembarked. But the fleet proceeded to blockade the French ships, and the army was obliged to remain at Newport for their protection. News presently arrived that the French second division July 31. was detained at Brest, blockaded there by another Brit |