Part 16 (2/2)
[Sidenote: The army at Valley Forge, 1777-78.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: ”The Glorious WAs.h.i.+NGTON and GATES.” FROM t.i.tLE-PAGE OF AN ALMANAC OF 1778. To show condition of wood-engraving in the Revolutionary era.]
[Sidenote: Baron Steuben.]
148. The Army at Valley Forge, 1777-78.--The sufferings of the soldiers during the following winter can never be overstated. They seldom had more than half enough to eat. Their clothes were in rags.
Many of them had no blankets. Many more had no shoes. Was.h.i.+ngton did all he could do for them. But Congress had no money and could not get any.
At Valley Forge the soldiers were drilled by Baron Steuben, a Prussian veteran. The army took the field in 1778, weak in numbers and poorly clad. But what soldiers there were were as good as any soldiers to be found anywhere in the world. During that winter, also, an attempt was made to dismiss Was.h.i.+ngton from chief command, and to give his place to General Gates. But this attempt ended in failure.
[Sidenote: Burgoyne's campaign, 1777. _Eggleston_, 178-179; _McMaster_, 139-140; _Source-Book_, 154-157.]
[Sidenote: Schuyler and Gates.]
149. Burgoyne's March to Saratoga, 1777.--While Howe was marching to Philadelphia, General Burgoyne was marching southward from Canada.
It had been intended that Burgoyne and Howe should seize the line of the Hudson and cut New England off from the other states. But the orders reached Howe too late, and he went southward to Philadelphia. Burgoyne, on his part, was fairly successful at first, for the Americans abandoned post after post. But when he reached the southern end of Lake Champlain, and started on his march to the Hudson, his troubles began. The way ran through a wilderness. General Schuyler had had trees cut down across its woodland paths and had done his work so well that it took Burgoyne about a day to march a mile and a half. This gave the Americans time to gather from all quarters and bar his southward way. But many of the soldiers had no faith in Schuyler and Congress gave the command to General Horatio Gates.
[Sidenote: Battle of Bennington, 1777. _Hero Tales_, 59-67.]
150. Bennington, 1777.--Burgoyne had with him many cavalrymen. But they had no horses. The army, too, was sadly in need of food. So Burgoyne sent a force of dismounted dragoons to Bennington in southern Vermont to seize horses and food. It happened, however, that General Stark, with soldiers from New Hamps.h.i.+re, Vermont, and western Ma.s.sachusetts, was nearer Bennington than Burgoyne supposed. They killed or captured all the British soldiers. They then drove back with great loss a second party which Burgoyne had sent to support the first one.
[Sidenote: Battle of Oriskany, 1777.]
151. Oriskany, 1777.--Meantime St. Leger, with a large body of Indians and Canadian frontiersmen, was marching to join Burgoyne by the way of Lake Ontario and the Mohawk Valley. Near the site of the present city of Rome in New York was Fort Schuyler, garrisoned by an American force. St. Leger stopped to besiege this fort. The settlers on the Mohawk marched to relieve the garrison and St. Leger defeated them at Oriskany. But his Indians now grew tired of the siege, especially when they heard that Arnold with a strong army was coming. St. Leger marched back to Canada and left Burgoyne to his fate.
[Sidenote: First battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777.]
[Sidenote: Second battle of Freeman's Farm, 1777.]
[Sidenote: Surrender of the British at Saratoga, 1777.]
152. Saratoga, 1777.--Marching southward, on the western side of the Hudson, Burgoyne and his army came upon the Americans in a forest clearing called Freeman's Farm. Led by Daniel Morgan and Benedict Arnold the Americans fought so hard that Burgoyne stopped where he was and fortified the position. This was on September 19. The American army posted itself near by on Bemis' Heights. For weeks the two armies faced each other. Then, on October 7, the Americans attacked. Again Arnold led his men to victory. They captured a fort in the centre of the British line, and Burgoyne was obliged to retreat. But when he reached the crossing place of the Hudson, to his dismay he found a strong body of New Englanders with artillery on the opposite bank. Gates had followed the retiring British, and soon Burgoyne was practically surrounded. His men were starving, and on October 17 he surrendered.
[Sidenote: The Treaty of Alliance, 1778.]
153. The French Alliance, 1778.--Burgoyne's defeat made the French think that the Americans would win their independence. So Dr. Franklin, who was at Paris, was told that France would recognize the independence of the United States, would make treaties with the new nation, and give aid openly. Great Britain at once declared war on France. The French lent large sums of money to the United States. They sent large armies and splendid fleets to America. Their aid greatly shortened the struggle for independence. But the Americans would probably have won without French aid.
[Sidenote: The British leave Philadelphia 1778.]
[Sidenote: Battle of Monmouth, 1778.]
154. Monmouth, 1778.--The first result of the French alliance was the retreat of the British from Philadelphia to New York. As Sir Henry Clinton, the new British commander, led his army across the Jerseys, Was.h.i.+ngton determined to strike it a blow. This he did near Monmouth.
The attack was a failure, owing to the treason of General Charles Lee, who led the advance. Was.h.i.+ngton reached the front only in time to prevent a dreadful disaster. But he could not bring about victory, and Clinton seized the first moment to continue his march to New York. There were other expeditions and battles in the North. But none of these had any important effect on the outcome of the war.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Clark's Campaign 1777-1778]
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