CHAPTER XVII THE WAR IN THE SOUTH (1778-1781); INDEPENDENCE WON Hostilities in Georgia. - Having failed in the struggle for the Hudson and Delaware rivers, the British adopted the new plan of trying to reconquer the Southern Colonies. Late in December, 1778, Savannah was taken and then Prevost, the English governor of Florida, began to overrun all of Georgia. To stop his ravages General Lincoln assembled a little army, a part of which was defeated March 3, 1779, at Briar Creek, a branch of the Savannah. This reverse gave the British control of nearly all the state. Siege of Savannah. - Prevost leisurely strengthened his position at Savannah. General Lincoln, in conjunction with GENERAL WAYNE 1 Meanwhile, in 1779, General Clinton seized and strengthened a fort at Stony Point, on the Hudson. He also sent out from New York several expeditions to lay waste the villages along the coasts of Connecticut and Virginia. To stop such raids, General Washington resolved on a bold stroke, which he entrusted to General Anthony Wayne. Before daylight in the early morning of June 16, 1779, that officer brought through the passes in the Highlands about twelve hundred troops. At the point of the bayonet, Wayne leading his men, Stony Point was stormed and five hundred and forty-three prisoners taken. About the same time Paulus Hook (Jersey City), near the mouth of the Hudson, with its garrison of one hundred and fifty-nine men, was surprised and taken by Colonel Henry Lee ("Light-Horse Harry"). This Colonel Lee was the father of Robert Edward Lee, the famous Confederate general. In both affairs the American losses were very small. Admiral d'Estaing, of the French navy, resolved to take it by siege. Two weeks later, the season of tempests being at hand, and fearing the loss of the fleet, they determined to take the place by assault. On October 9 the Admiral and the General, each leading a column, attacked at the same time. The charge was desperately made, but the defenders did not flinch. It was on this occasion that Court Casimir Pulaski, the brave Pole, was mortally wounded. The assault ended in disaster. Lincoln then fell back into South Carolina. — Loss of Charleston. In December, 1779, Campbell arrived from New York with three thousand troops; in January, 1780, General Clinton brought six thousand. Three thousand more came with Cornwallis in April. In the South this gave the enemy an advantage in numbers. Against the sound advice of Washington, General Lincoln began to collect supplies and to improve the defenses of Charleston. A siege was begun and to make it more effective a British squadron arrived in the harbor. On May 12, 1780, Lincoln surrendered with 5000 men. In addition to Georgia, the entire state of South Carolina was now quickly occupied by Clinton's forces. Great numbers of Tories flocked to the British army. For the moment the patriots were stunned, but they were roused to retaliation by the excesses of the enemy. DEFEAT AT CAMDEN 207 Defeat at Camden. In August, 1780, General Gates' with a new army of patriots drew near Camden, in South Carolina, a post that had recently been strengthened by Cornwallis. After needless delays and an imprudent night march, battle was begun early in the morning of the 16th. At the first onset the American militia fled. The Maryland and Delaware Continentals fought desperately under De Kalb, who fell pierced by eleven bullets, but they were unable to check the British. Gates fled on his charger to Hillsboro, nearly two hundred miles away. South Carolina seemed hopelessly lost, and it was now certain that Cornwallis would soon invade North Carolina. For the moment his only opposition came from little bands of patriots who waged a guerrilla warfare under such able leaders as Sumter, Williams, and Marion. Treason of Arnold. - Only a few weeks after the defeat at Camden, came news of another disaster, of a far different kind. As military commander at Philadelphia, Benedict Arnold so mismanaged financial affairs as to lead to his trial by a court-martial. That body sentenced him to a reprimand, which Washington made very mild. Moreover, to remove all effects of the rebuke and to show his own confidence in the offending officer, Washington appointed him to command the important post of West Point. But all this did not soothe Arnold's troubled spirit. Before long he made an offer to surrender it to the British. General Clinton's agent in this matter was the accomplished Major André, who in September, 1780, was taken up the Hudson in the Vulture. Going ashore near Stony Point, André met Arnold at night and discussed conditions. Morning came before the terms of the surrender had been satis 1 General Washington was opposed to giving Gates command of the Southern army, but Congress made the appointment. factorily arranged. The Vulture was fired upon and compelled to drop downstream. Capture of André. The new position of the Vulture made it necessary for André to return to New York by land. Disguising himself as a traveler, he set out on horseback. With Arnold's pass in his pocket he began his journey with some confidence, but was stopped by three Americans, by whom he was searched. Disregarding Arnold's pass, and CAPTURE OF ANDRÉ refusing the offer of André's watch and his money, they refused to let him proceed. Instead they delivered him up at the nearest post. Later he was tried by military court, convicted of being a spy, and sentenced to be hanged. The officer to whom André was sur rendered did not sus pect the honor of his superiors. Therefore he notified both Arnold and Washington. As Arnold was the first to learn of André's capture he fled to the river and had himself rowed down to the Vulture, which took him to New York. There he received the reward of his treason, namely, $32,000 in money and a commission in Clinton's army. Signs of Discontent. - Treason in high places was not the only discouraging sign of the times. Because the troops were not paid there was mutiny among them. There was |