Volume II Part 3 (2/2)
[Footnote 34: ”The commissaries, greatly in debt, had neither money nor credit, and starvation began to stare the soldiers in the face. To support his army, Was.h.i.+ngton was again obliged to resort to the harsh expedient of levying contributions on the surrounding country. Each county was called upon for a certain quant.i.ty of flour and meat; but as the civil authorities took the matter of supply in hand, for which certificates were given by the commissaries on the apprais.e.m.e.nt of two magistrates, the use of force did not become necessary.” (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III., Chap. xi., p. 301.)]
[Footnote 35: ”Was.h.i.+ngton's entire force scarcely exceeded ten thousand men, a number not equal to the (British) garrison of New York; and even of these a considerable number were militia drafts, whose terms of service were fast expiring.”--_Ib._, p. 303.
But though New York was in possession of the British, and strongly garrisoned, apprehensions were entertained of attacks upon the several English garrison posts in the State from invasions of marauding parties of the revolutionary army, from facilities of approach on account of the freezing over of all the rivers from the extreme severity of this winter. It is singular that while Benjamin Franklin was leader of the Revolutionists, and now United States Minister to France, his son was one of the leaders of the Loyalists. ”It was now,” says Mr. Hildreth, ”that the 'Board of a.s.sociated Loyalists' was formed, of which Franklin, late Royal Governor of New Jersey, released by exchange from his tedious confinement in Connecticut, was made president. Was.h.i.+ngton, however, was in no condition to undertake an attack, and the winter pa.s.sed off with few skirmishes.” (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III., Chap. xi., p. 303.)]
[Footnote 36: _Ib._, pp. 311, 312.]
[Footnote 37: ”In the siege, the British lost seventy-six killed and one hundred and eighty-nine wounded; the Americans about an equal number.
The prisoners, exclusive of sailors, amounted to five thousand six hundred and eighteen, counting all the adult males of the town.”
(Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I., Chap. lii., p. 253.)]
[Footnote 38: Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II., Chap.
xx., pp. 337, 338.
Yet in the face of the facts above stated by Dr. Ramsay, who was an officer on General Was.h.i.+ngton's staff, and afterwards member of Congress, where he had access to the official doc.u.ments and letters from which he compiled his history, Mr. Bancroft makes the following statements and remarks: ”The value of the spoil, which was distributed by English and Hessian commissaries of captures, amounted to about 300,000 sterling, so that the dividend of a major-general exceeded 4,000 guineas. There was no restraint on private rapine; the silver plate of the planters was carried off; all negroes that had belonged to the rebels were seized, even though they had themselves sought an asylum within the British lines; and at one embarkation 2,000 were s.h.i.+pped to a market in the West Indies. British officers thought more of ama.s.sing fortunes than of re-uniting the empire. The patriots were not allowed to appoint attorneys to manage or sell their estates, a sentence of confiscation hung over the whole land, and British protection was granted only in return for the unconditional promise of loyalty.”
(Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X., Chap. xiv., pp. 305, 306.)]
[Footnote 39: ”Sir Henry Clinton, having left about 4,000 men for Southern service, embarked early in June with the main army for New York. On his departure the command devolved on Lieutenant-General Cornwallis.” (Dr. Ramsay's History of the United States, Vol. II., Chap.
xx., p. 341.)
”They saw South Carolina apparently won back to the royal cause, and with some probability that North Carolina would follow the example. But at this crisis intelligence reached Sir Henry Clinton that the Americans upon the Hudson (under the command of General Was.h.i.+ngton) were on the point of receiving considerable succours; that a French fleet sent to their aid, with several French regiments on board, might soon be expected off the New England coasts. Sir Henry deemed it his duty to provide in person for the safety of his princ.i.p.al charge. In the first days of June he accordingly re-embarked for New York, with a portion of his army; leaving, however, about 4,000 men under Lord Cornwallis's command. The instructions given to Lord Cornwallis were to consider the maintenance of Charleston, and in general of South Carolina, as his main and indispensable objects; but consistently with these, he was left at liberty to make 'a solid move,' as it was termed, into North Carolina, if he judged it proper or found it possible.” (Lord Mahon's History, etc., Vol. VII., Chap. lxii., p. 70.)
On the eve of leaving Charleston for New York, Sir Henry reported to the British Colonial Minister, Lord Germaine: ”The inhabitants from every quarter declare their allegiance to the King, and offer their services in arms. There are few men in South Carolina who are not either our prisoners or in arms with us.”]
[Footnote 40: Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X., Chap.
xiv., p. 306.
”The universal panic consequent on the capture of Charleston had suspended all resistance to the British army. The men of Beaufort, of Ninety-Six, and of Camden, had capitulated under the promise of security. They believed that they were to be treated as neutrals or as prisoners on parole. There remained to them no possibility of flight with their families; and if they were inclined to take up arms, there was no American army around which they could rally.” (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X., Chap. xiv., p. 307.)
”No organized American force was now left in either of the Carolinas.
The three most Southern States had not a battalion in the field, nor were the next three much better provided. The Virginia line had been mostly captured at Charleston, or dispersed in subsequent engagements.
The same was the case with the North Carolina regiments. The recent battle of Camden had reduced the Maryland line to a single regiment--the Delaware line to a single company.” (Hildreth's History of the United States, Vol. III., Chap. xi., p. 316.)]
[Footnote 41: ”On the 22nd of May, confiscation of property and other punishments were denounced against all who should thereafter oppose the King in arms, or hinder any one from joining his forces. On the 1st of June, a proclamation by the Commissioners Clinton and Arbuthnot, offered pardon to the penitent on their immediate return to allegiance; to the loyal, the promise of their former political immunities, including freedom from taxation, except by their own Legislature. This policy of moderation might have familiarized the Carolinians once more to the British Government; but the proclamation was not communicated to Cornwallis--so that when, three weeks later, two leading men, one of whom had been in a high station, and both princ.i.p.ally concerned in the rebellion, went to that officer to surrender themselves under its provisions, he could only answer that he had no knowledge of its existence.
”On the 3rd of June (the day of his departure from Charleston), Clinton, by a proclamation which he alone signed, cut up British authority in Carolina by the roots. He required all the inhabitants of the province, even those outside of Charleston, 'who were now prisoners on parole,' to take an active part in securing the royal government. 'Should they neglect to return to their allegiance,' so ran the proclamation, 'they will be treated as rebels to the government of the King.' He never reflected that many who accepted protection from fear or convenience, did so in the expectation of living in a state of neutrality, and that they might say, 'If we _must fight_, let us fight on the side of our friends, of our countrymen of America.'” (Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. X., Chap. xiv., pp. 307, 308.)]
[Footnote 42: ”Earl (afterwards Marquis) Cornwallis was born in 1738.
Early in life he had embraced the military profession, which he pursued with undeviating honour, though variable success. In him the want of any s.h.i.+ning talents was in a great measure supplied by probity, by punctuality, by steady courage, by vigilant attention to his duties. In 1776, on the Declaratory Bill, he had shown his conciliatory temper to the colonies; denying, with Lord Camden and only three Peers besides, any right we had to tax them while they remained unrepresented in the House of Commons. When, however, the war broke forth, he acted solely as became a soldier. Under Lord Cornwallis was now serving a young officer of no common spirit and daring, destined, like himself, to attain, at another period, the highest office that an Englishman out of England can fill--the office of Governor-General of India. This was Francis Lord Rawdon, subsequently better known, first as Earl of Moira, and then as Marquis of Hastings. In the ensuing battle of Camden, where he held a second rank, he played a distinguished part; he was not yet twenty-six years of age, and he had already gained renown five years before, in the battle of Bunker's Hill.” (Lord Mahon's History, etc., Vol. VII., Chap.
lxii., p. 71.)]
[Footnote 43: Tucker's History of the United States, Vol. I., Chap.
iii., p. 254.
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