CHAPTER The North Carolina Congress ordered four more regi XXXII. ments to be raised, and the Highlanders and Regulators 1776. to be disarmed. The defeat of M'Donald disconcerted April 1. the plans of Martin and Clinton, whose force was not large enough to effect any thing without local support. The troops expected from Ireland met with great delays, and did not arrive till two months afterward. Jan. 20. Sir James Wright had called together the Assembly of Georgia at the beginning of the year; but, instead of paying any attention to his communications, they proceeded to choose an executive council, of which Arcr.ibald Bullock was appointed president. Wright was made a Feb. 14. prisoner in his own house, but forfeited his parole by escaping on board one of the ships of war below Savannah. To guard against these ships, half the militia were called out under M'Intosh; but this call did not muster more than three hundred men. The whole provincial militia were about five thousand; but many of the inhabitants were disaffected, especially the wealthier planters, who were very little pleased with the non-exportation agreement. Re-enforced by a detachment from Charleston, M'Intosh undertook to dismantle a number of vessels which lay in the river loading with rice and other produce. The ships of war came up to their assistance, and a sharp skirmish ensued. Some of the vessels were burned, and others stopped; but the ships Feb. 4. of war carried off most of the rice. Meanwhile, a pro vincial regiment was authorized, of which M'Intosh was appointed colonel; but he had little hope of many le. cruits short of North Carolina. CHAPTER XXXIII. RECOVERY OF BOSTON. AMERICAN ARMY DRIVEN OUT OF CANADA. DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. By great efforts and unwearied assiduity, Washington CHAPTER XXXIII. had brought the army before Boston into a tolerable state of organization, and he was now exceedingly anxious to 1776. expel the British. While their attention was distracted by a cannonade from several advanced batteries on the eminences of Cambridge nearest to Boston, taking advantage of a dark night, he sent a strong detachment to March 4 Occupy Dorchester (now South Boston) Heights, an elevation corresponding on the south to Breed's Hill on the north, and overlooking and commanding Boston, both the harbor and the town. During the night a strong redoubt was thrown up, from which the provincials must be dislodged, or the town be abandoned. Preparations for attack were immediately made; but a violent storm delayed the embarkation; and the works in the mean time were so strengthened, that the recollection of Bunker Hill left but little hope of successful assault. Had Howe made an attack, it was Washington's plan to embark four thousand men in boats in Charles River, and to land in the town. An indirect communication was presently opened with Washington through the selectmen of Boston, and it was tacitly understood that the town should be left uninjured on condition that the parting troops were not harassed. These troops amounted to seven thousand men, besides CHAPTER two thousand sailors and marines, and a thousand of XXXIII. fifteen hundred Loyalists, who fled with the retreating 1776. army. Many of these unfortunate persons abandoned large properties, leaving their homes with no other means of subsistence than the rations allowed them from the army stores. Eleven days were employed in the embarkation. All the cloths that could be found in the town were carried off by the British, and pains were taken to destroy salt, molasses, and other articles. The departing fleet of a hundred and fifty vessels lay for some days in Nantasket Roads. So soon as the evacuation of the town was ascertained, Washington, at the Marcu.. head of several regiments, entered in triumph. The townspeople, such of them as had remained, released from a tedious and irksome restraint, received him with every demonstration of joy, while numerous fugitives, scattered through the country during the British occupation, many of them dependent on charity for support, now regained their homes and employments. To commemorate the recovery of Boston, Congress ordered a medal to be struck. May 8. The British troops sailed for Halifax; but as Washington could not tell what their actual destination might be, he hastened off the main body of the army for New York, which he expected would become the next point of attack. Extensive fortifications were commenced at Boston, where five regiments were left under General Ward. That officer speedily resigned his commission; but he continued to take an active part in public affairs as a member of the Massachusetts Council, and afterward as a delegate to Congress. Rhode Island was guarded by two regiments raised in that colony, and presently taken into Continental pay. Some six weeks after the evacuation of Boston, a Brit XXXIII. Ish squadron, with a number of transports, ignorant of CHAPTER that event, arrived, and anchored in Nantasket Roads, below the town. They were soon driven out by the 1776. troops and the militia; and the population volunteered to complete the unfinished fortifications. Three other transports, with Lieutenant-colonel Campbell and two hundred and fifty men, which entered the harbor a few days after, were captured, and the soldiers made prisoners. Increasing expenses had obliged the issue of four ad- Feb. 17 ditional millions of Continental paper, one million of which was in bills of less denomination than one dollar. A Standing Committee was appointed to superintend the treasury, of which the accounts were becoming complicated. An auditor general, with clerks and assistants, was presently appointed, to act under this committee, of April 1. which Gerry, now a delegate from Massachusetts, was an active member, and generally its chairman. Such were the rudiments of the present treasury department. The Marine Committee, by active exertions and at great expense, had fitted out a squadron of eight vessels, which sailed on a cruise under Cominodore Hopkins. Feb. The scarcity of powder still continued, though several powder mills had been established in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, as well as manufactories of arms and foundries for cannon. In hopes to obtain a supply of this essential article, Hopkins made a descent on New Providence. He took the governor and some other prisoners, and carried off a quantity of military stores, but failed of the powder. After engaging a British ship of war, which he suffered to escape, he returned to Newport, much to the disgust of Congress, by whom an inquiry was ordered into his conduct. The vacancy occasioned by the non-acceptance of Pomeroy was filled by the appointment of Colonel Frye; March CHAPTER but he soon resigned, as did John Whitcombe, promoted XXXIII. to the same rank of brigadier, an old officer, like Frye 1776. a colonel in the French war. Arnold was made a brigadier for his gallant conduct at Quebec. Two new mil. itary departments, the Southern and the Middle, were established, and six new brigadiers, Armstrong, Thomp. son, Lewis, Moore, Stirling, and Howe, were commis. sioned from the middle and southern colonies. The same rank was also conferred on the Baron de Woedtke, a foreign officer, who disappointed the hopes of Congress by turning out a miserable drunkard. Wooster's conduct had not given satisfaction, and Thomas, promoted to the rank of major general, was sent to supersede him. Wooster resigned in consequence; not, however, till he had obtained an inquiry into his conduct, and a favorable report. Generals Thompson and Sullivan were also ordered to the northern department. Great efforts were made to enlist and equip the regiments designed to re-enforce the northern army-a business which met with many discouragements and delays, not alone from the difficulty of enlisting the men, but from the still greater difficulty of supplying them with arms. Dr. Franklin, with Chase, and Charles Carroll, of Maryland, appointed by Congress commissioners to Canada to conciliate the favor and goodwill of the inhabitants, proceeded to Montreal, accompanied by Carroll's brother, a Jesuit, afterward first Catho lic archbishop of the United States. After the evacuation of Boston, ten regiments were sent to re-enforce the northern army. A total and final separation from the mother country began, meanwhile, to be publicly discussed. That idea encountered strenuous opposition, but was every where making rapid progress. After two applications from the Convention of New Hampshire for advice as to the form |