Part 16 (1/2)

[Sidenote: Escape of the Americans.]

141. Long Island and Brooklyn Heights, 1776.--The very day that the British left Boston, Was.h.i.+ngton ordered five regiments to New York. For he well knew that city would be the next point of attack. But he need not have been in such a hurry. General Howe, the new British commander-in-chief, sailed first to Halifax and did not begin the campaign in New York until the end of August. He then landed his soldiers on Long Island and prepared to drive the Americans away.

Marching in a round-about way, he cut the American army in two and captured one part of it. This brought him to the foot of Brooklyn Heights. On the top was a fort. Probably Howe could easily have captured it. But he had led in the field at Bunker Hill and had had enough of attacking forts defended by Americans. So he stopped his soldiers--with some difficulty. That night the wind blew a gale, and the next day was foggy. The British fleet could not sail into the East River. Skillful fishermen safely ferried the rest of the American army across to New York. When at length the British marched to the attack, there was no one left in the fort on Brooklyn Heights.

[Sidenote: Retreat from New York.]

[Sidenote: Was.h.i.+ngton crosses the Delaware.]

142. From the Hudson to the Delaware, 1776.--Even now with his splendid fleet and great army Howe could have captured the Americans.

But he delayed so long that Was.h.i.+ngton got away in safety. Was.h.i.+ngton's army was now fast breaking up. Soldiers deserted by the hundreds. A severe action at White Plains only delayed the British advance. The fall of Fort Was.h.i.+ngton on the end of Manhattan Island destroyed all hope of holding anything near New York. Was.h.i.+ngton sent one part of his army to secure the Highlands of the Hudson. With the other part he retired across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River. The end of the war seemed to be in sight. In December, 1776, Congress gave the sole direction of the war to Was.h.i.+ngton and then left Philadelphia for a place of greater safety.

[Sidenote: Battle of Trenton, 1776. _Higginson_, 203; _Hero Tales_, 45-55]

143. Trenton, December 26, 1776.--Was.h.i.+ngton did not give up. On Christmas night, 1776, he crossed the Delaware with a division of his army. A violent snowstorm was raging, the river was full of ice. But Was.h.i.+ngton was there in person, and the soldiers crossed. Then the storm changed to sleet and rain. But on the soldiers marched. When the Hessian garrison at Trenton looked about them next morning they saw that Was.h.i.+ngton and Greene held the roads leading inland from the town.

Stark and a few soldiers--among them James Monroe--held the bridge leading over the a.s.sanpink to the next British post. A few hors.e.m.e.n escaped before Stark could prevent them. But all the foot soldiers were killed or captured. A few days later nearly one thousand prisoners marched through Philadelphia. They were Germans, who had been sold by their rulers to Britain's king to fight his battles. They were called Hessians by the Americans because most of them came from the little German state of Hesse Ca.s.sel.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Battle of Trenton.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Battle of Princeton.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Princeton, 1777. _Source-Book_, 149-151.]

144. Princeton, January, 1777.--Trenton saved the Revolution by giving the Americans renewed courage. General Howe sent Lord Cornwallis with a strong force to destroy the Americans. Was.h.i.+ngton with the main part of his army was now encamped on the southern side of the a.s.sanpink. Cornwallis was on the other bank at Trenton. Leaving a few men to keep up the campfires, and to throw up a slight fort by the bridge over the stream, Was.h.i.+ngton led his army away by night toward Princeton. There he found several regiments hastening to Cornwallis. He drove them away and led his army to the highlands of New Jersey where he would be free from attack. The British abandoned nearly all their posts in New Jersey and retired to New York.

CHAPTER 15

THE GREAT DECLARATION AND THE FRENCH ALLIANCE

[Sidenote: Rising spirit of independence, 1775-76.]

145. Growth of the Spirit of Independence.--The year 1776 is even more to be remembered for the doings of Congress than it is for the doings of the soldiers. The colonists loved England. They spoke of it as home. They were proud of the strength of the British empire, and glad to belong to it. But their feelings rapidly changed when the British government declared them to be rebels, made war upon them, and hired foreign soldiers to kill them. They could no longer be subjects of George III. That was clear enough. They determined to declare themselves to be independent. Virginia led in this movement, and the chairman of the Virginia delegation moved a resolution of independence. A committee was appointed to draw up a declaration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIRST UNITED STATES FLAG. Adopted by Congress in 1777.]

[Sidenote: The Great Declaration, adopted July 4, 1776. _Higginson_, 194-201; _McMaster_, 131-135; _Source-Book_, 147-149.]

[Sidenote: Signing of the Declaration, August 2, 1776.]

146. The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.--The most important members of this committee were Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Of these Jefferson was the youngest, and the least known. But he had already drawn up a remarkable paper called _A Summary View of the Rights of British America._ The others asked him to write out a declaration. He sat down without book or notes of any kind, and wrote out the Great Declaration in almost the same form in which it now stands. The other members of the committee proposed a few changes, and then reported the declaration to Congress. There was a fierce debate in Congress over the adoption of the Virginia resolution for independence.

But finally it was adopted. Congress then examined the Declaration of Independence as reported by the committee. It made a few changes in the words and struck out a clause condemning the slave-trade. The first paragraph of the Declaration contains a short, clear statement of the basis of the American system of government. It should be learned by heart by every American boy and girl, and always kept in mind. The Declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776. A few copies were printed on July 5, with the signatures of John Hanc.o.c.k and Charles Thompson, president and secretary of Congress. On August 2, 1776, the Declaration was signed by the members of Congress.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Battle of Brandywine.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Brandywine 1777. _McMaster_, 137-138.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Germantown, 1777.]

147. The Loss of Philadelphia, 1777.--For some months after the battle of Princeton there was little fighting. But in the summer of 1777, Howe set out to capture Philadelphia. Instead of marching across New Jersey, he placed his army on board s.h.i.+ps, and sailed to Chesapeake Bay. As soon as Was.h.i.+ngton learned what Howe was about, he marched to Chad's Ford, where the road from Chesapeake Bay to Philadelphia crossed Brandywine Creek. Howe moved his men as if about to attempt to cross the ford. Meantime he sent Cornwallis with a strong force to cross the creek higher up. Cornwallis surprised the right wing of the American army, drove it back, and Was.h.i.+ngton was compelled to retreat. Howe occupied Philadelphia and captured the forts below the city. Was.h.i.+ngton tried to surprise a part of the British army which was posted at Germantown. But accidents and mist interfered. The Americans then retired to Valley Forge--a strong place in the hills not far from Philadelphia.