DEFENDING NEW YORK.

“What next?” inquired General Putnam.

“That is a difficult question to answer until I know General Howe’s destination,” replied Washington.

“Then you don’t think he is going home?” continued Putnam facetiously.

“Not yet, though I wish he might; then I would go home, too.”

“But seriously, where do you think he is going?” urged Putnam.

“I fear that he is bound to New York, for that is a port more important to him than even Boston.” Washington spoke as if he were greatly perplexed.

“Well,” added Putnam in his resolute way, “if he is bound for New York it won’t do for us to be fooling about here long.”

“No; and if I were certain that his destination were there, I should put you in command of that post at once,” said Washington. “Besides the importance of the position to him, the large number of Tories in that town is a great inducement for him to strike there. Governor Tryon has been plotting something with them, and who knows but his appearance there will be the signal for them to rise against their own country.”

“Just like ’em,” answered Putnam. “A man who will turn against his own country ought to dangle at the end of a halter. With the British army outside, and hundreds of traitors inside, New York will make a poor show.”

“There is no telling what a strong defence of the town can be made with the Lord on our side. My hope is in the righteousness of our cause.”

Washington called a council of war in his perplexity. He laid before his military advisers his reasons for supposing that the foe, driven from Boston, had sailed for New York.

“The English will be chagrined over their defeat here, after all their boasting,” said Washington, “and we may expect heavier blows in future somewhere. The king will not suffer ‘rebels’ to remain unmolested. We do well to expect that in future the king will concentrate the military power of his government and hurl it upon us to bring us to terms.

It was finally determined to put General Putnam in command at New York, and he was hurried away, with all the troops in Boston but five regiments, and instructions to complete the fortifications commenced by General Lee. Two or three months before, in consequence of the appearance of a British fleet, under Clinton, in the harbor of New York, and the secret plottings of Governor Tryon and the Tories, Washington placed General Lee in command there. Lee at once arrested leading Tories, and sent them to prison, threatening all the rest, in his fiery way, with similar punishment if they continued to aid the enemy. Governor Tryon fled to a British man-of-war in the harbor, accompanied by several of his political advisers, and from those new headquarters he continued secret intercourse with the Tories. New dangers soon arising farther south, General Lee was transferred to the Southern Military Department, with headquarters at Williamsburg.

Such was the state of affairs in New York when General Putnam took command, with not more than eight thousand available troops in the town and vicinity.

Washington ordered three thousand militia to go to his aid from Connecticut, and as soon as he could arrange affairs in Boston he himself hastened to New York with his body-guard, where he arrived on the thirteenth day of April.

Before this time he had learned that General Howe proceeded to Halifax, to await large reinforcements from Great Britain; that his brother, Admiral Howe, with his naval fleet, would join him there, and then the great army would sail for New York.

He did not know, however, at that time, what the British Government was doing to crush the rebels in North America. He learned afterwards that the king, stung to madness by the failure of his army in Boston, resolved to avenge the defeat by a terrible blow upon New York. He hired seventeen thousand Hessians to join the army, paying them liberally for their services, and these hirelings would swell the invading army to startling proportions.

Notwithstanding the evacuation of Boston, the cause of the patriots never seemed more hopeless than it did when the British army, under the two Howes, appeared below New York.

“Our army in Canada is beaten and shattered,” Washington said, “and our cause is lost there. Here it is difficult to tell friend from foe. It is claimed that half of the people in New York are Tories, and what communications they may have with the British army, through Tryon, it is impossible to tell. We have not half the men absolutely required to hold this position, and what we have are poorly clad and equipped, and not half fed. Then we have reason to suspect that the enemy will come with greater inhumanity to man, and that fire and sword will do a more fearful work than ever. What some of the British officers are capable of doing in the way of fiendish devastation was shown in Boston, when the burning of every town between that city and Halifax was ordered, and Portland was laid in ashes.

Washington wrote to his brother:

“We expect a bloody summer in New York and Canada; and I am sorry to say that we are not, either in men or arms, prepared for it. However, it is to be hoped that, if our cause is just, as I most religiously believe, the same Providence which has in many instances appeared for us will still go on to afford us its aid.”

Congress was in session at Philadelphia, and Washington went thither to confer with members concerning the summer campaign, and to plead for aid. Through his influence, Congress added twenty-three thousand militia to the army, including a flying camp of ten thousand.

In the midst of these troubles a conspiracy of startling magnitude was discovered. “A part of the plot being,” says Sparks, “to seize General Washington and carry him to the enemy.” Rev. John Marsh of Wethersfield, Conn., wrote and published the following account of the affair:

“About ten days before any of the conspirators were taken up, a woman went to the general and desired a private interview. He granted it to her, and she let him know that his life was in danger, and gave him such an account of the conspiracy as gained his confidence. He opened the matter to a few friends on whom he could depend. A strict watch was kept night and day, until a favorable opportunity occurred, when the general went to bed as usual, arose about two o’clock, told his lady that he was going with some of the Provincial Congress to order some Tories seized, desired she would make herself easy and go to sleep. He went off without any of his aides-de-camp, except the captain of his life-guard; was joined by a number of chosen men, with lanterns and proper instruments to break open houses; and before six o’clock next morning had forty men under guard at the City Hall, among whom was the mayor of the city, several merchants, and five or six of his own life-guard. Upon examination, one Forbes confessed that the plan was to assassinate the general and as many of the superior officers as they could, and to blow up the magazine upon the appearance of the enemy’s fleet, and to go off in boats prepared for that purpose to join the enemy.”

Thomas Hickey, one of Washington’s own guard, was proved to be a leader in the plot, and he was sentenced to be hung. The sentence was executed on the twenty-eighth day of June, in a field near Bowery Lane, in the presence of twenty thousand people.

On the same day four of the enemy’s warships dropped anchor in the bay. The next morning there were forty ships, and they continued to arrive until one hundred and thirty vessels of war and transports could be distinctly seen with a glass. The British troops were landed on Staten Island, where nearly all the people were Tories, although they had professed to be patriots.

While these warlike preparations were going forward, the American Congress was discussing the most important subject ever considered by a legislative body that of American independence; and on the 4th of July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted.

The discussion upon the adoption of this important document was conducted in secret session. The people outside knew what was before the Assembly, and there was great excitement. For hours citizens gathered about the State House, awaiting the decision with the utmost anxiety. A man was stationed in the steeple of the building to ring the bell when the decisive vote was declared. The bell was imported from England twenty-three years before, and bore this inscription:

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

When the bell pealed forth the glad news that the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the joy of the people knew no bounds. The tidings spread from town to town, and awakened the most hearty response. On the ninth day of July, Washington caused the Declaration to be read at the head of each regiment, and it revived their drooping hopes more than the arrival of ten thousand recruits.

In their outburst of gladness, the soldiers indulged themselves in some excesses. There was a leaden statue of George III, in the Bowling Green, which they tore from its pedestal, and cut up, to run into bullets. Washington thought it was an unnecessary act of violence, denoting insubordination and recklessness, and he rebuked the deed by an order, in which he said:

“The general hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.”

One day, before the engagement came on, General Putnam was crossing a field, which is now the “Park,” when his attention was called to a company of artillery on drill. Observing the company for several minutes, he remarked to the commander:

“A well-disciplined company!”

“With some more practice they will be,” the commander replied modestly.

“Have they attained to this excellence of drill under your command?” General Putnam asked, noticing that the officer could not be more than twenty years of age.

“Yes, sir; I have enjoyed some opportunities to study military science.”

“Where?”

“First in the West Indies, where I was born. I was a merchant’s clerk there, but longed for a military life, and finally I seized upon the first opportunity to study such books as I could find. After I came to this country my desire for military service did not abate, and I joined Captain Fleming’s company.”

“General Washington must know you,” responded Putnam as he moved on.

We have introduced this incident here because the young commander was Alexander Hamilton, who became identified with the history of our country. He came to this country at fifteen; entered King’s College, where he was the best scholar; joined one of the first volunteer companies organized in New York, and became so efficient that he was made captain of the artillery company he was drilling when General Putnam met him. He was not twenty years old at that time. Subsequently he became one of Washington’s wisest counsellors. “In him were united,” says another, “the patriot, the soldier, the statesman, the jurist, the orator, and philosopher, and he was great in them all.”

British ships of war continued to arrive, bringing Hessians and Scotch Highlanders to swell the king’s army. Still no particular movement to capture the city was made.

On the 21st of July, Washington heard from Sir Henry Clinton’s fleet. Clinton left the British army in Boston, in December, 1775, and unexpectedly appeared in the harbor of New York, as we have stated. However, after a conference with Governor Tryon, he sailed south, saying that he had no intention of attacking New York.

Clinton soon appeared in Charleston Harbor, part of an expedition against South Carolina, under Sir Peter Parker, and in a few days joined in attacking the fort, six miles below the city. The fort was commanded by Sir William Moultrie. It was attacked with both fleet and army, on the twenty-eighth day of June, by one of the most terrible bombardments ever known at that time. An experienced British officer said, “It was the most furious fire I ever heard or saw.”

A few days before, General Charles Lee advised abandoning the fort.

“A mere slaughter-house!” he exclaimed to Governor Rutledge, who was a true patriot. “A mere slaughter-house! A British man-of-war will knock it to pieces in half an hour!”

“Nevertheless, holding that fort is necessary to the defence of the city and State,” answered Rutledge. “The fort must be held.” He sent for Moultrie.

“General Moultrie, what do you think about giving up the fort?” he inquired, repeating the advice of General Lee.

Moultrie was indignant, and he replied:

“No man, sir, can have a higher opinion of British ships and seamen than I have. But there are others who love the smell of gunpowder as well as they do. Give us a plenty of powder and ball, sir, and let them come on as soon as they please.”

“You shall have plenty of powder and ball,” answered Rutledge, as he sent Moultrie back to his post.

The guns of Fort Moultrie riddled the British ships, and covered their decks with the dead and dying. One hundred and seventy-five men were killed on board the fleet, and as many more wounded. The Americans lost but thirty-five, and held the fort. A braver garrison never met a foe. Sergeant Jaspar saw the flag shot away, and leaped down upon the beach, snatched it up, and returned it to its place, shouting:

“Hurrah, boys! Liberty and America forever!” Governor Rutledge rewarded him with a sword.

Sergeant McDonald was terribly shattered by a cannon-ball, and he called out with his dying breath, “I die, but don’t let the cause of liberty die with me!”

The enemy’s fleet was driven off in a shattered condition. The commander was so deeply humiliated that even his black pilots insulted him. Weems says that he called to one of them:

“Cudjo, what water have you there?”

“What water, massa? what water? Why, salt water, sure sir! sea water always salt water, ain’t he, massa?”

“You black rascal, I knew it was salt water; I only wanted to know how much water you have there?”

“How much water here, massa? how much water here? God bless me, massa! Where I going get quart pot for measure him?”

The commander, even in his chagrin and trouble, could not but laugh at Cudjo’s idea of measuring the Atlantic ocean with a quart pot.

This discomfited fleet returned to New York and joined the British army.

When the news of the signal victory of the patriots at Moultrie reached Washington, he announced it to the army, and said:

“With such a bright example before us of what can be done by brave men fighting in defence of their country, we shall be loaded with a double share of shame and infamy if we do not acquit ourselves with courage, and manifest a determined resolution to conquer or die.”

A detachment of the army was sent to construct works from Wallabout Bay to Red Hook. Washington rode out one day to inspect the defences, when he approached a subaltern officer who was directing his men to raise a heavy timber to its place. Instead of lending a helping hand, the conceited fellow stood, shouting:

“Hurrah, boys, n-o-w, right up, h-e-a-v-e,” etc.

“Why do you not lend a helping hand?” said Washington, whom the officer did not know.

“What, sir! I lend a helping hand?” exclaimed the official sprig. “Why, sir, I’ll have you know that I am corporal!”

Washington leaped from his saddle, laid hold of the timber with the men, and helped lift it to its place. Then turning to the “corporal,” he said sarcastically:

“Mr. Corporal, my name’s George Washington. I have come over from New York to inspect the works here; so soon as you have done this piece of work, you will meet me at your commander’s, General Sullivan’s quarters.

Washington despised officers who felt above their business.

On a flying visit to Connecticut, he failed to reach his destination on Saturday night. Early Sunday morning he completed the few remaining miles of his journey. On his way, a tithing man came out of a house and inquired of the coachman:

“Is there any necessity of your travelling on the Lord’s Day?”

Washington ordered his coachman to stop, and replied:

“I have no intention of breaking the laws of Connecticut; they meet my most cordial approbation. But I was disappointed in not being able to reach my destination last night, where I shall attend church.”

Washington waited and waited for the enemy to move, and wondered that he did not. Putnam wrote to Gates:

“Is it not strange that those invincible troops who were to lay waste all the country, with their fleets and army, dare not put their feet on the main?”

About this time General Washington made the following address to his army:

“The time is now near at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be free men or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness, from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance or the most abject submission. We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or die. Our own, our country’s, honor calls upon us for a vigorous and manly action; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let us then rely upon the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and encourage us to great and noble actions.

The American army had grown by this time to over twenty thousand men poorly equipped and fed, though not more than fifteen thousand were available for immediate action. Congress was slow to provide supplies, and everything dragged. Many of the men carried only a spade, shovel or pick-axe. At the call of the country, they responded with shovels in hand, having no guns. They could throw up works, though destitute of arms to repel the foe. It was this destitute condition of our army that led a British officer to write home derisively:

“The rebels are armed with scythes and pitchforks.

To rebuke the growing vice and recklessness of the army, Washington issued the following order:

“The general is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a vice heretofore little known in an American army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the officers will by example, as well as influence, endeavor to check it, and that both they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our arms if we insult it by our impiety and folly; added to this, it is a vice so mean and low, without any temptation, that every man of sense and character detests and despises it.”

On the 17th of August Washington observed a movement of the enemy.

“They are embarking,” he said to one of his aides, “bound for some point. Thirty thousand of them will be able to crush us if, as General Lee says, ‘God is on the side of heavy battalions.’”

He was not long in doubt concerning their destination, for they landed at Long Island.

“They mean to capture Brooklyn Heights,” exclaimed Washington; “their designs are clear enough now.”

“The city is at their mercy if they once capture that position,” replied “Old Put,” as the soldiers called General Putnam. “They must not be suffered to gain that position.”

“You must go to General Sullivan’s aid with six battalions, all the force we can spare,” said Washington. “There is no time to be lost.”

In anticipation of such a movement, Washington had stationed a body of troops on Brooklyn Heights under General Greene; but the latter was taken sick, and General Sullivan succeeded him, and now General Putnam was placed in command. No more men could be sent to Brooklyn Heights, because Washington expected the British fleet would attack the city.

He received the following message from General Livingston of New Jersey:

“I saw movements of the enemy on Staten Island, and sent over a spy at midnight, who brought back the following intelligence: Twenty thousand men have embarked to make an attack on Long Island, and up the Hudson. Fifteen thousand remained on Staten Island, to attack Bergen Point, Elizabethtown Point, and Amboy.” The spy heard the orders read and the conversation of the generals. “They appear very determined,” added he, “and will put all to the sword.”

Again, in expectation of an immediate attack, he addressed the army to inspire them with determined valor, and said:

“The enemy have landed upon Long Island, and the hour is fast approaching on which the honor and success of this army, and the safety of our bleeding country, depend. Remember, officers and soldiers, that you are free men, fighting for the blessings of liberty; that slavery will be your portion, and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men. It is the general’s express orders that, if any man attempt to skulk, lie down, or retreat without orders, he be instantly shot down for an example.”

Fifteen thousand British troops landed and advanced to seize the Heights. It was on the twenty-first day of August, 1776. A terrific battle of seven days followed, in which the slaughter and suffering were fearful. Alternate victory and defeat were experienced by both sides. Sometimes it was a hand-to-hand fight with bayonets. As Washington beheld a detachment of his heroic men pierced to death by Hessian bayonets, he wrung his hands in an agony of spirit, and exclaimed:

“O good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!”

There were but five thousand Americans pitted in this battle against fifteen thousand British, and yet they fought seven days.

On the twenty-eighth day of August, the British moved their line of battle to within a mile of the Yankee breast-works on the Heights. The capture of the Heights, with all the American soldiers, seemed inevitable. Between them and New York was the East River, which the enemys fleet commanded. Before them was the foe, numbering three to one. To human view there was no hope for the brave little army of patriots.

But on that night a storm arose, and a dense fog enveloped the Heights. Early in the evening the rain began to fall, and, together, fog and rain created a dismal scene. At the same time a brisk breeze sprang up, sufficient to waft the boats across to the New York side. If anything more were needed to prove that God was favoring the smallest battalions, it was the fact that the night was clear on the New York side of the river.

“God is propitious to-night,” said Washington to Putnam in a hopeful tone. “Under cover of this darkness we must cross the river and save our army.”

“Our only salvation,” replied Putnam.

Washington superintended the retreat personally, and, as the fog did not clear away until ten o’clock on the following day, his whole force, with guns and ammunition, were carried across the river before the enemy discovered the retreat. This retreat was regarded as one of the most signal achievements of the war. Sparks says, in his “Life of Washington:”

“The retreat, in its plan, execution, and success, has been regarded as one of the most remarkable military events in history, and as reflecting the highest credit on the talents and skill of the commander. So intense was the anxiety of Washington, so unceasing his exertions, that for forty-eight hours he did not close his eyes, and rarely dismounted from his horse.”

“We cannot hold New York,” said Washington, at a council of war he called immediately. “We are at the mercy of the enemy on every hand.”

“From Brooklyn Heights British guns can lay this city in ashes,” added Putnam.

“That is true; but the Howes will never order that destruction so long as half the citizens are Tories,” replied Washington.

“Sure enough; that is a voucher against such a measure,” responded Putnam. “But if thirty thousand well-armed and well-fed British troops, having possession of all the land and water around Manhattan Island, can’t capture this small and undisciplined army, they don’t deserve the name of soldiers.

“And now our men are disheartened,” continued Washington. “We lost nearly two thousand men, killed, wounded, and missing, on Brooklyn Heights, and many of those who escaped have deserted. We must evacuate the city.”

“And leave it in flames,” added Putnam.

“Yes, apply the torch,” said another; “we must do it in self-defence. What a strong position against us it will afford to the enemy!”

Washington saw reasons for adopting this extreme measure, but he could not take the responsibility. He did write to Congress about it, however, as follows:

“If we should be obliged to abandon the town, ought it to stand as winter quarters for the enemy? They would derive great convenience from it on the one hand, and much property would be destroyed on the other. At the present, I dare say, the enemy mean to preserve it if they can.”

On the tenth day of September, Congress voted to leave the fate of the city in Washington’s hands, and he left it unharmed.

Concerning the alarming desertions after the retreat from Brooklyn Heights, he wrote, in humane extenuation of the deserters’ offence:

“Men just dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life, and unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill, are timid, and ready to fly from their own shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living brings on an unconquerable desire to return to their homes.

Establishing his headquarters at King’s Bridge, Washington superintended the retreat from New York, which was accomplished without the loss of anything except his heaviest cannon.

Colonel Humphreys wrote: “I had frequent opportunities that day of beholding Washington issuing orders, encouraging the troops, flying on his horse covered with foam, wherever his presence was most necessary. Without his extraordinary exertions the guards must have been inevitably lost, and it is possible the entire corps would have been cut in pieces.

He made a noble stand at Harlem Heights for three weeks, where he had several encounters with the foe. In one of these, two of his most brilliant officers were killed, Colonel Knowlton and Major Leith. Knowlton’s last words were, “Did we drive the enemy in?” Speaking of Colonel Knowlton reminds us of an incident.

Soon after the retreat from Brooklyn, Washington said to Knowlton:

“It is important for me to know the strength of the enemy on Long Island. Can you name a trusty man who will find out?”

“I can,” answered Knowlton. “If he will consent, he is just the man for such service.”

“Send him to me immediately.”

Within a short time Nathan Hale of Connecticut, one of the bravest and most promising young officers in the army, presented himself to the general.

“Can you ascertain for me the number and strength of the British on Long Island?” asked Washington.

“I think I can,” replied Hale; “I am willing to try.”

“You understand that it will cost your life if the enemy capture you. It is serious business.

“I understand. I understood that when I entered the army,” was young Hale’s cool and heroic reply.

“Go, then, and quickly as possible obtain the information I so much need.”

Hale went to Long Island in the capacity of a schoolmaster, obtained the information that Washington desired, and on his return was discovered and arrested as a spy. Without trial or court-martial he was executed, in extremely aggravating circumstances.

“A clergyman, whose attendance he desired, was refused him; a Bible, for a moment’s devotion, was not procured though he requested it. Letters which on the morning of his execution, he wrote to his mother and sister, were destroyed; and this very extraordinary reason was given by the provost-martial, ’that the rebels should not know that they had a man in the army who could die with so much firmness.’ Unknown to all around him, without a single friend to offer him the least consolation, as amiable and as worthy a young man as America could boast was thus hung as a spy.” His last words were:

“I lament only that I have but one life to give to the cause of liberty and the rights of man.”

Soon after Washington withdrew his defeated army to Harlem Heights, he heard cannonading at the landing, where breastworks had been thrown up. Springing upon his horse, he galloped away in the direction of the firing, and, before he reached the place, he met his soldiers in full retreat before a squad of British, numbering not more than sixty or seventy. He drew his sword, and with threats, endeavored to rally them; but in vain. He was so shocked by their cowardice, and so determined to repel the foe, that he would have dashed forward to his death, had not his aides seized the reins of his charger, and turned him in the other direction.

On the 20th of September, after the British took possession of New York, a fire started one night in a drinking saloon, where soldiers were revelling (perhaps celebrating their triumphal entry into the city), and it spread with great rapidity. The buildings were mostly of wood, so that the devouring flames licked them up as tinder; and although the thousands of British soldiers exerted themselves to the utmost to extinguish the fire, one quarter of the city, about one thousand buildings, was laid in ashes.

At this time the army in Canada had withdrawn to Crown Point, numbering about six thousand, one half of them being sick and the other half disheartened and disaffected. General Washington ordered them to retire to Ticonderoga for safety and rest. The small-pox was spreading among them to an alarming degree.

Jealousies among officers, dissatisfaction among soldiers, clashing interests among the Colonies, and a growing distrust of Washington, added to the complications of the American cause, and to the trials of Congress and the commander-in-chief.

Referring to the discordant interests throughout most of the Colonies, John Adams wrote: “It requires more serenity of temper, a deeper understanding, and more courage than fell to the lot of Marlborough, to ride in this whirlwind.”

By request, General Lee returned from the South at this time. He was an accomplished military officer, and his successes at the South added much to his laurels. Many regarded him superior to Washington. The latter esteemed him highly as an officer of skill and experience. At a council of war held soon after his arrival, General Lee said:

“A position is not a good one simply because its approaches are difficult. No army can maintain itself with the enemy in front and rear, especially when the enemy’s ships command the water on each side, as they do here. Your recent experience on Long Island and in New York shows the danger of such position.”

“That is very true,” answered Washington. “We cannot afford to hazard too much in the present condition of the army. I have satisfactory evidence that General Howe’s purpose is to surround our camp, and capture the whole American army.”

“And he is not much of a general if he does not do it,” responded Lee. “For my part, I would have nothing to do with the islands to which you have been clinging so pertinaciously. I would give Mr. Howe a fee-simple of them.”

“Where and when shall we be in a better condition to meet the enemy?” inquired General George Clinton, a brave but inexperienced officer. “We must fight the enemy somewhere; why not here?”

“I will answer your inquiry,” replied Washington. “We shall be in a better condition to meet the foe when the Colonies have had time to furnish their quotas of recruits, as recently ordered by Congress.

At the earnest solicitation of Washington, Congress had voted that the Colonies should furnish eighty-eight battalions, in quotas, according to their abilities; that the pay of officers should be raised; troops serving throughout the war should receive a bounty of twenty dollars and one hundred acres of land, with a new suit of clothes annually. Those enlisting for three years were to receive twenty dollars bounty, but no land. This provision was a response to Washington’s frequent protests against short enlistments and small pay, and it pointed to a reorganization of the army, on a permanent footing, according to Washington’s frequently expressed ideas. The general had great expectations of relief from this more liberal policy.

“Our present action should look solely to the safety of the army,” interjected Lee. “To save it from annihilation or capture is our first duty.”

“Certainly,” rejoined Washington; “and now let this question be answered definitely: whether (considering that the obstructions in the North River have proved insufficient, and that the enemy’s whole force is in our rear on Grog Point), it is now deemed possible, in our situation, to prevent the enemy from cutting off the communication with the country, and compelling us to fight them at all disadvantages or surrender prisoners at discretion?”

Every number of the council except General Clinton decided that it was impossible to occupy the present position without exposing the army to destruction or capture; hence, another retreat followed.