LITMIR.BIZ

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till he had an army of about thirty thousand men. He soon had the assistance also of a formidable fleet under Admiral Lord Howe, his brother.

      General Nathanael Greene.

154. Occupation of New York and Brooklyn.—Washington had not only taken possession of New York City, but had fortified Governor’s Island, as well as Brooklyn, and the New Jersey shore at Paulus Hook opposite New York. Brooklyn Heights were put in command of General Nathanael Greene,^[72] but he was suddenly stricken with fever and the command was transferred to General Israel Putnam,^[73] with Generals Sullivan and Stirling as subordinate officers, and a force of about nine thousand men.

      155. Battle of Long Island.—As this position commanded the city, the British took the natural course of planning an attack from the east. Landing southeast of Brooklyn with about twenty thousand men, August 22 and 25, Howe pushed one of his divisions by a circuitous route toward the north, for the purpose of turning the flank of the Americans and making their escape in that direction impossible. In the battle of Long Island, which ensued, the Americans, having only about five thousand men in the field, were greatly outnumbered and defeated. Generals Sullivan and Stirling, with about two thousand of their men, were taken prisoners. The remainder of the army fell back and rejoined Putnam within the fortifications. Preparations were at once made for a siege. With the British force surrounding Brooklyn on the land side and with Admiral Howe’s fleet in New York Bay, the escape of the army, which Washington had now reënforced to about twelve thousand men, seemed impossible.

      156. Retreat to New York.—Washington well knew that the Brooklyn army must either escape or surrender. He therefore caused all the boats and rafts of every kind that could transport men or ammunition, to be brought together from the various streams and bays in the vicinity. So skillfully was this work done, that in the course of a single foggy night, August 29, the boats were collected on the Brooklyn side of the river, and the whole army, with guns and stores, was taken across to New York. This remarkable exploit might, no doubt, have been prevented had there been greater vigilance on the part of the British fleet.

157. Evacuation of New York.—But this bit of good fortune did not enable Washington to hold New York. The British immediately sailed up the East River and prepared to land their forces, if possible, so as to intercept Washington’s army. They secured a footing, September 15, first at Kipp’s Bay, where the Thirty-fourth Street ferry now is, and later at Throg’s Neck, a few miles above; but the main force of the Americans was able to pass up the west coast of the island before the enemy could cut them off.^[74] Washington’s troops were not numerous enough to justify a pitched battle; but while retreating, he retarded and annoyed the enemy at every point. On the 28th of October he fought a slight engagement at White Plains, some thirty miles from New York, to hold the British in check while the main army should pass still farther north. The British now withdrew to Dobb’s Ferry and threatened Fort Washington.

      158. Loss of Fort Washington and Fort Lee.—The lower Hudson at that time depended for its defense upon two fortifications: Fort Washington, situated near the upper end of Manhattan Island, on which the city of New York stands, and Fort Lee, on the opposite side of the river. Washington decided to abandon these defenses to the British and to establish strong fortifications some forty-five miles up the river. Congress, however, directed that Fort Washington be held, if possible; and the commander unfortunately yielded his opinion so far as to allow General Greene, who was in command of both the forts, to defend them in case he should deem successful defense possible. The result was the most serious of the early disasters of the war. The British broke through the obstructions that had been placed in the river, and having passed with their fleet above Fort Washington, surrounded it in such a way that escape was impossible. When a vigorous assault was made, nearly three thousand American troops were forced to surrender, November 16. The abandonment of Fort Lee necessarily followed.

GENERAL CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY.

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      Colonial Flag, 1776.

      159. Lack of Union among the Colonies.—The war was not simply a war of separation; it was also in some of its features a civil war. The loss of New York, including Fort Washington, brought out the American opponents of the Revolution in great force. From the very beginning of the agitation which resulted in independence, there had been three somewhat distinct classes of people among the colonists. One class believed that on the whole the British government was the best in existence, and that the colonists would be benefited by showing a constant spirit of loyalty and fidelity to the Crown. Such people were opposed to every form of agitation that would look to the British like insubordination. The second class, while believing that there were abuses which should and would be corrected, acknowledged the supreme power of Parliament. Like the British, they did not see why their lack of representation differed very greatly in principle from the condition of some of the larger towns in England. They thought also that the abuses could in time be removed by a general and friendly agitation. The third class consisted of the out-and-out reformers. Their leaders were such men as Samuel Adams, James Otis, and Patrick Henry, who believed that if the rights of the colonies were not granted when they were pointed out, the proper course was to fight for them. As the agitation went on and the British government made blunder after blunder, the third of these classes, though at first inferior in numbers to the others, became more perfectly organized and so got the upper hand. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the American people at any time were unanimous on the subject of independence, or even of resistance. It is probable that in the second year of the war, even in New England, one fourth of the people were opposed to it; that in the Middle states the proportion was as great as one-third; and in the Southern states nearly, or quite, as great as one half.

      160. The Tories.—All those who were opposed to the action of Congress naturally came to be regarded as enemies, and were known as Tories. From the first they made a vast amount of trouble. During the siege of Boston they were numerous, outspoken, and influential. They desired that the Revolutionary cause should fail. They acted as spies and carried information to the British; and whenever the patriot cause suffered any check or disaster, they did whatever they could to show that successful resistance was impossible. In the State of New York the Tories from the first were not only numerous, but very active. Soon after Washington took possession of the city he discovered that Tryon, the Tory governor, was at the bottom of a plot to capture or kill the commander in chief, and turn over the city to the enemy. Tryon escaped, but some of the other leaders were arrested and tried, and one of Washington’s own guards, who had been bribed, was publicly hanged. Though this summary procedure discouraged the Tories, they continued to be of great service to the British and of great annoyance to the Americans. In New York and in the South the struggle was attended with many of the horrors of civil war.

FAILURE OF BRITISH EXPEDITIONS.

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      General William Moultrie.

      161. Carleton’s Expedition.—While Washington had been unsuccessfully attempting to resist the advances of the British in New York, the Americans had been more fortunate in other parts of the country. An expedition under Sir Guy Carleton, the governor of Canada, was planned to advance up the river St. John, into Lake Champlain, and down the Hudson, but it met so vigorous a resistance from Arnold near Valcour’s Island, that, although Arnold’s fleet was almost destroyed, the British were obliged to return to

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