and beheld the apparatus of death, he exclaimed, "Must I die in this manner?"Being told it was unavoidable, he replied, "I am reconciled to my fate-but not to the mode; it will be a momentary pang." He ascended the cart with a serenity of aspect that excited the admiration, and melted the hearts of all the spectators. The moment before his dissolution, he was asked if he had any thing to say; he answered, "Nothing but to request that you will witness to the world, that I die like a brave man." "Thus fell the young, the lovely and the brave, In the whole course of the unnatural contest between Great Britain and the United States of America, no event happened which excited so universal an emotion as the execution of Major Andre. No plea of necessity or expedience can afford a sufficient palliation of this severe decision of the American officers, and the feeling mind must ever regret the hard fate of a youthful hero, who fell a victim to martial law. Arnold, as a reward for his desertion, was made brigadier-general in the King's service, and published an address to the Americans, dated New-York, the 7th of October, in which he endeavoured to justify his conduct.. He said, that "when he first engaged in their cause, he conceived the rights of his country to be in danger, and that duty and honor called him to their defence. A redress of grievances was his only aim, and therefore he acquiesced unwillingly in the declaration of independence, because he thought it precipitate. But what now induced him to desert their cause was, the disgust he had conceived at the French alliance, and the refusal of Congress to comply with the terms offered by Great Britain, which he thought equal to all their wishes." At the close of the year 1780, the American army felt the rigour of the season, with peculiar circumstances of aggravation. The troops had been enlisted for three years, which were now expired, and incensed at so long a continuance of hardships, an insurrection broke out in the Pennsylvania line, which was followed by that of New-Jersey. The complaints of these soldiers being well founded, were redressed, and a general amnesty closed the business. That part of the American army which was under the immediate command of Washington did not escape the contagion of revolt. He prudently remained in his quarters, where his presence, and the respect and affection for his person, though it did not prevent murmurs, kept his men within bounds and prevented a mutiny. The common soldiers of Pennsylvania were principally natives of Ireland, but though not bound to America by the tie of birth, they had given distinguished proofs of their valour on many occasions, in defence of her independence. This corps had been enlisted for three years or during the war, the time was expired, and the privates insisted that the choice of staying or going remained with them, while their officers contended that the decision ought to be left to the state. The mutiny began in the night of the 1st of January, 1781, and soon became general in the Pennsylvania line. Upon a signal given, the insurgents turned out under arms without their officers. They demanded the full arrears of their pay, clothing and provisions; they had received none of the two first, and but part of the last, and they declared their determination to quit the service, unless their grievances were fully redressed. Several of their officers were wounded, and a captain killed, in their endeavors to quell the mutiny. When Gen. Wayne, who commanded the troops stationed at Morristown, presented his pistols as if about to fire on the mutineers, they held their bayonets to his breast, and exclaimed, "We love and respect you, but if you fire, you are a dead man man; we are not going to the enemy; on the contrary, if they were now to come out, you should see us fight under your orders with as much alacrity as ever; but we will be no longer amused; we are determined on obtaining our just due." The whole body then formed, and to the number of thirteen hundred, marched from Morristown, and proceeded in good order with their arms and six field pieces, to Princeton. Here they elected officers from their own body. General Wayne sent provisions after them to prevent their plundering the country for subsistence; but they invaded no man's property farther than their immediate necessities rendered indispensable. Sir Henry Clinton, by confidential messages, offered to take them under the protection of the British government, and made several proposals that were highly advantageous. The mutineers, however, to shew their adherence to the cause of America, sent the British agents to General Wayne, and marched from Princeton to Trenton, near Philadelphia. The executive council of that city, sent a letter to the insurgents, in which they promised in the most solemn manner, to redress all their grievances. They returned a favourable answer, and a committee con sisting of several members of Congress, met them at Trenton, where all matters were entirely settled to their satisfaction. President Reed offered them a purse of one hundred guineas, as a reward for their fidelity in delivering up the spies, but they refused to accept it, saying, "That what they had done, was only a duty they owed their country, and that they neither desired, nor would receive any reward, but the approbation of their country, for which they had so often fought and bled." The campaign of 1781, was opened with great vigour by the British army in Carolina. After several skirmishes, with various successes, the two armies under Lord Cornwallis and General Greene, met at Guildford, on the 15th of March, 1781, and after a well contested action, the British remained masters of the field. Lord Cornwallis afterwards marched into Virginia, where, notwithstanding the advantages he gained over the Americans, his situation became very critical. Sir Henry Clinton was prevented from sending him reinforcements, as he was apprchensive that Washington intended to attack NewYork. The American commander-in-chief employed great finesse to deceive the British General; and by a variety of judi N |