XLIII were planted two pieces of artillery. Greene advanced CHAPTER in two lines, the militia in front. His attack, made with great vigor, principally on the artillery and the British 1781 left, was just as vigorously met. The artillery on both sides was repeatedly taken and retaken. By great exertions, the British left was broken at last, and victory seemed to declare for the Americans; but a party of the routed troops threw themselves into a strong stone house with a picketed garden adjoining, and, though the American artillery was brought up, all attempts to dislodge them proved unsuccessful. Meanwhile, a British battalion on the right of the road, after repulsing a charge of the American horse, gained the rear of the attacking column. The British left rallied, and the Americans were finally repulsed. They lost two of their four pieces of artillery, but carried off one belonging to the enemy. In this hard-contested action, Greene had somewhat more and the British somewhat less than two thousand men. The loss was very heavy on both sides; that of the British amounted to near seven hundred men, of whom two hundred and fifty were prisoners. The American loss was almost as great. Colonel Washington, commanding the American horse, was wounded and taken prisoner. Both sides claimed the victory, but all the advantage of the action accrued to the Americans. Stuart presently retired to Monk's Corner, and the British were thenceforth restricted to the narrow tract between the Cooper and Ashley. Greene, however, was too much exhausted to continue active operations. His troops were barefoot and half naked. He had no hospital stores, hardly even salt, and his ammunition was very low. He retired again to the hills of the Santee, where the militia left him. In the distressed condition of the army, signs of mutiny appeared in the camp, and an execution became necessary to keep it down. CHAPTER A bold enterprise on the part of one Hector M'Neal revived the spirits of the North Carolina Tories. At the 1781. head of a body of Loyalists he surprised Hillsborough, a little village, the capital of the state, and not only captured a small body of Continental troops, but made prisoners, also, of Governor Burke and his council. M'Neal was attacked and slain on his retreat by a party of militia, but his followers succeeded in getting into Wilmington with their prisoners. The North Carolina Loyalists began to make new movements; but General Rutherford marched into the disaffected districts at the head of a body of militia, drove the Tories from their dwellings, burned their houses, destroyed their crops, and, with very little regard to former promises or capitulations, resorted to all sorts of severities in hopes of driving them all into Wilmington. Meanwhile that French fleet for which Washington was Aug. 5 so anxiously looking made its appearance on the American coast. The Count De Grasse had sailed from France toward the end of March with twenty-six ships of the line, followed by an immense convoy of two or three hundred merchantmen. Rodney, still busy in selling the plunder of Eustatius, sent Hood, with seventeen ships of the line, to cut the French off from Martinique. Though joined by four more heavy ships, which came out from that island, De Grasse studiously avoided a close engageApril 29. ment; and, during an action at long shots, the whole convoy got safe into the harbor of Fort Royal. Several of Hood's vessels, having exposed themselves to the fire of the whole French fleet in their efforts to bring on a gen eral engagement, had suffered severely; Hood bore away to Antigua for repairs, and De Grasse meanwhile accomJane. plished the conquest of Tobago. He then proceeded with the fleet of merchantren to St. Domingo, whence he pres XLIII Aug. 5 ently sailed with an immense return convoy bound for CHAPTER France. After seeing this convoy well on its way, De.. Grasse changed his course and steered for the Chesapeake. 1781. Rodney expected that part of the French ships would proceed to the American coast; but, having no idea that the whole fleet would take that direction, he judged it sufficient to re-enforce Graves, who commanded on the American station, by sending Hood thither with fourteen ships of the line. Hood anticipated the French fleet, and arrived Aug. 25, first off the Chesapeake. Not finding Graves there, he proceeded to New York. The very day of his arrival, news was received that the French squadron at Newport, under Du Barras, had put to sea, plainly with intent to form a junction with the French ships from the West Indies. In hopes to cut off one or the other of the French squadrons before this junction could be effected, Graves sailed with the united British fleet, amounting now to nineteen ships of the line. But, on arriving off the entrance of the Sept Chesapeake, much to his surprise, he found De Grasse, with twenty-four ships of the line, at anchor just inside of Cape Henry. Having reached the Chesapeake six days before, De Grasse had found an officer of La Fayette's on the lookout at Cape Henry, at whose request he had sent four ships of the line and several frigates to block up James and York Rivers, so as to cut off Cornwallis's retreat. Three thousand French troops had also landed, and marched to join La Fayette. No less surprised at the sudden appearance of the British fleet than Graves was at seeing them, the French ships slipped their cables and stood out to sea. The fleets continued maneuvering in sight of each other for five days. A distant cannonade was interchanged; but De Grasse took care to avoid a close action, his great object being CHAPTER to cover the arrival of the squadron from Newport. Dur XLIII ing these maneuvers, Du Barras entered the bay, and 1781. along with him several transports loaded with heavy arSept. 10 tillery for the siege of Yorktown. His object thus accom plished, De Grasse immediately returned to the Chesapeake. Obliged to burn one ship, totally disabled in his attempts to bring on an action, and having several others badly damaged, Graves returned to New York to refit, leaving the French fleet in undisturbed possession of the bay. The run of ill luck, which on so many previous occasions had defeated the attempt at French and American co-operation, seemed at last to have turned. Transports Sept. 17. were sent up the Chesapeake to bring down the French and American armies; and, in an interview between Washington, De Grasse, and Rochambeau, the plan of operations was speedily arranged. Having discovered Washington's real object, Clinton had attempted to interrupt it by a diversion at the north. The Highlands, held by fourteen regiments, and now again under the command of Heath, were too strong to be attacked; but an expedition under Arnold, recalled from Virginia several months before, to advise about an attack on the Highlands, was sent against the coast of Connect icut. New London, a resort of privateers, and a depôt Sept. 7. for the West India trade, was plundered and burned, and a great amount of property destroyed. Fort Griswold, on the opposite side of the river, was carried by assault, with a loss to the British of two hundred men-a loss retaliated by the merciless slaughter of the garrison, Colonel Ledyard, the commander, and some sixty others, being massacred after the surrender. As the militia of the neighborhood began to assemble, Arnold, who knew and dreaded their spirit, hastened to re-embark. The combined French and American army, by the help XLIII. of the French transports, soon formed a junction with La CHAPTER Fayette at Williamsburg, whence they marched to invest Cornwallis. Three thousand five hundred Virginia mi- 1781. litia had assembled at La Fayette's camp under Govern- Sept. 27. or Nelson. The Continentals, those under La Fayette and those brought from the north, amounted to five thousand five hundred. The French, including the troops landed by De Grasse, were seven thousand in number. The besieging army thus amounted to sixteen thousand men. The British force, about half as numerous, was mostly at Yorktown, and against that place the operations of the besiegers were principally directed. The works on the opposite side, at Gloucester, were merely blockaded. Yorktown had been made as strong as possible, works having been thrown up in advance to impede an enemy's approach. The most interesting event of the siege was the simultaneous storming of two of these advanced re- Oct. 14 doubts by two parties, one French, the other American. The van of the American party was led by Hamilton, whose thirst for military fame had induced him to seek a command in the line. The captured redoubts were included in the second parallel; the ramparts of Cornwallis crumbled fast under the fire of the besiegers; his guns were dismounted; his shells began to fail: the hope of relief from New York grew faint. A sally was attempted, but without much success. As a last resort, Oct. 16. Cornwallis thought of passing his army across to Gloucester, forcing a passage through the troops on that side, and making a push for New York. But a violent storm drove his boats down the river, and even that desperate scheme had to be abandoned. The event of an assault could not be doubtful, and, to save the useless shedding of blood, Cornwallis proposed to Oct. 17. capitulate. A treaty was accordingly opened, and the III.—A A |