them, but without any authority, and, although treated with scrupulous respect, in some doubt whether he was a free man or a prisoner. The men maintained military order; the regiments were under command of sergeants, and a sergeant-major led the whole. At Princeton they went into camp and received a visit from Generals St. Clair and Lafayette, and Colonel Laurens, whom they received with respect, but soon ordered to leave the camp. A committee of Congress came as far as Trenton, accompanied by Reed, President of Pennsylvania. There they halted, and sent on word of their readiness to hear the complaints of the men. Two emissaries came from General Clinton, promising pardon, bounties and liberal pay, to all of the mutineers who should join his army. The men indignantly denied the possibility of their "turning Arnolds," made the British agents prisoners, and gave them into the custody of Wayne, by whom they were afterward hanged as spies. Encouraged by this action on the part of the men, Reed came on to th ir camp and proposed: to grant all entitled to such, a discharge; to give certificates for arrears of pay-allowing for depreciation of the currency; to furnish at once certain clothing most needed, and to give to all men of the line forty days furlough. These terms were accepted, and the mutiny ended with the dissolution of the insurgent regiments.

Washington feared the consequences of making concessions to men in revolt, and his fears proved well grounded for, shortly after, a portion of the New Jersey troops, at Pompton, arose in mutiny. The commander in chief adopted different tactics. He sent Major-general Howe, with a body of New England troops in whom he had entire confidence, and directed him to suppress the mutiny without any concession, and to hang the ringleaders on the spot. These directions were literally complied with, and the integrity of the army was thus preserved.

In the meantime the scene of war was evidently changing more and more to the southward; Arnold, in Virginia, opened a guerrilla warfare against the people of that almost defenseless colony. Moving swiftly by land and water, he was enabled to do great damage-damage all the more mortifying by reason of the insignificance of the force with which it was accomplished. At Richmond he destroyed a great quantity of tobacco, and, sending a detachment to Westham, burned a cannon foundry and public magazine, and knocked the trunnions from a large number of canHe then descended the river, galled but not seriously opposed by the militia, and took post at Norfolk, where he fortified his position, and for the time being remained.

non.

This narrative left Greene's army, in December, 1780, resting in two divisions, one under Morgan, in the district of Ninety-six; the other, commanded by Greene in person, upon the Pedee river. Cornwallis was not disposed to give the Americans time for recuperation, and determined either to force Greene to a fight and defeat him, or compel him to retreat

from North Carolina. Knowing that General Leslie was marching down from Virginia, with a body of troops for his relief, the British commander saw only Greene, with a weak and motley army, between himself and complete domination of the South, from Virginia to Florida. One lion lay in his path. Before he could proceed directly against Greene, Morgan must be conquered, for it would not do to have an enemy in his rear. Hence, he dispatched Tarleton, with one thousand one hundred picked men, to proceed to the district of Ninety-six and dispose of this little preliminary, he himself awaiting the result, within such distance as to permit of co-operation. Morgan's force was nearly equal in point of numbers to that of Tarleton, but he had less cavalry, and his men were in general far from being so efficient as those of the enemy, who had under him the flower of the British infantry and artillery, and his own famous light horse. Morgan retreated toward the Broad river, hotly pursued by Tarleton, who was con fident of an easy victory. Finally, on the 17th, Morgan deserted his camp before daylight and drew up his men, in three lines, upon an eminence at Hannah's Cow pens. His flanks were unprotected, and, six miles in his rear, ran the Broad river, effectually cutting off retreat. He deliberately chose to fight in this position, believing that his militia would fight better if they could not hope to save themselves by running away. He knew their dread of Tarleton, their familiarity with his cruel mode of warfare, and, he said, “when men are forced to fight, they will sell their lives dearly.” The first of his three lines was formed of the Carolina militia, in whom he had little confidence; they were ordered to fire twice, then retire; the second line was composed of regular infantry, and the third of cavalry. Tarleton charged the first line savagely, and was badly damaged by its volleys; when it retired he advanced exultantly, deeming the day his own, but was met by the regulars, who resisted stubbornly for some time, then, under Morgan's orders, retreated over the hill, recklessly pursued by Tarleton, whose men, fatigued with a weary march and hard fighting, were dismayed at coming face to face with the fresh cavalry of Colonel Washington, which attacked with a spirit heightened by the remembrance of their old grudge. The fight was a terrific one, and resulted in the decisive defeat of the British. Tarleton's cavalry broke and fled, relying upon the speed of horses for safety, and their commander was compelled to follow them. The British loss was ten officers and more than one hundred men killed; two hundred wounded, and between five hundred and six hundred made prisoners. The Americans lost but twelve killed and sixty wounded. An English writer says of this affair: "During the whole period of the war no other action reflected so much dishonor upon the British arms."

After this decisive victory, Morgan hastily dispatched his prisoners to a place of safety, sent a report to Greene, and began a retreat, hoping to effect the crossing of the Catawba before Cornwallis should overtake him.

In this he was barely successful. A heavy rain raised the river, Corn. wallis was prevented, for the time, from crossing, and the two wings of the American army effected a juncture. Then ensued a series of masterly manœuvres on the part of Greene, which occupied the entire winter, and will bear favorable comparison with any military accomplishment of the war, but which cannot be elaborately described in these pages. Cornwallis was led a chase of over two hundred miles through the most difficult region of North Carolina. Daily promised a battle, he never succeeded in bringing one on. He lost his baggage, wore out his men, and finally, coming to the Dan river, where he had felt certain of entrapping his opponent, found Greene safely posted on the opposite side, with every means of pursuit removed or destroyed. Then, after giving his men a few days for rest, he turned about and retreated, while the Americans, reversing their former movement, re-crossed the river and followed his march, harrying and galling him with their light cavalry, while he, by reason of his losses at the Cow pens, could not retaliate. Finally, in the month of March, Greene received reinforcements, which increased his numerical strength to four thousand two hundred and sixty-three men. With these he resolved to risk a battle, and, sending his baggage to a place of safety, established himself upon a height near Guilford Court House, and prepared to meet the attack which he felt sure would be made at the earliest opportunity. No sooner was this stand made, than Cornwallis began an advance, and, on the 15th of March, 1781, attacked Greene's position. The first line of the Americans was composed of militia, which broke and fled almost without a show of resistance, and so embarrassed and confused the remainder of the army that, though a most stubborn, and, in some quarters, successful defense was made, the result was the loss of the day. The loss of the Americans was more than five hundred killed and wounded, and about nine hundred missing. That of the British was ninety-three killed, four hundred and thirteen wounded, and twenty-six missing. Thus, though Cornwallis won a victory over a superior force, it was at the price of fully one fourth of his army. In fact, cut off, as he was, from supplies and the possibility of reinforcement, his victory was costly as were few defeats during the war. Greene had retreated to a point of rendezvous, where he collected his scattered army, and when, a day or two later, Cornwallis, unable to pursue his advantage, set out upon a march for Cross creek, where, in the midst of a settlement of Highlanders, he hoped to be able to obtain supplies and recruits, his lately conquered adversary was in hot pursuit. Cornwallis crossed Deep river, barely in time to burn the bridge behind him, and thus check Greene. The latter, knowing that the time required to rebuild the bridge would be amply sufficient to put the enemy beyond fear of pursuit, changed his tactics, dismissed his militia to their homes, sent word to Sumter and Marion of his coming, and set out with his regulars, upon the long and toilsome march to South Carolina. He

knew that such an expedient would result either in compelling Cornwallis to follow him, or to surrender the control of that province, so hardly won during the previous year. The British commander was disappointed in securing the succor which he sought at Cross creek, and passed on to his base of supplies at Wilmington, where he learned, almost with despair, of Greene's southward movement. Lord Rawdon's principal force, he knew, was stationed at Camden; many of his men were detached at various posts, and, although he saw the danger of their being defeated in detail, his own army was too much reduced, and the distance too great to permit of his attempting any assistance; hence, he sent an express to General Phillips, in command in Virginia, and, deserting the province of North Carolina, to the conquest of which he had a few months before moved with so much confidence, set out on the 25th of April, upon his march to effect a juncture with that officer.

It is difficult, almost impossible, to give, within reasonable limits, an account of the various military operations, which intervened between the battle of Guilford and the close of the siege of Yorktown. ments were not individually important, yet they were extremely complicated, and, when taken together, were of the utmost moment, as leading to the final catastrophe to the British arms, which insured the independence of the colonies. The condition of affairs north of the Carolinas, at the beginning of the year 1781, may be summed up in these words. The French army lay in Rhode Island, and the fleet at Newport; Washington's headquarters were in the neighborhood of West Point, his army being so disposed as to afford the best protection to the Hudson. In Virginia, Arnold lay at Portsmouth, awaiting developments, and quite secure against any force then possible to be brought against him on short notice. New York city was still held by Sir Henry Clinton, whose tenure was not threatened with any immediate danger.

Washington keenly felt the importance of preventing Arnold from gaining too strong a position. He conveyed his views on the subject to Congress, to Governor Jefferson, and to the French commander. Before receiving his letter, which recommended dispatching both naval and land forces to the Chesapeake, Rochambeau and Ternay had detached a sixtygun ship of the line and two frigates, to make a dash against Arnold. Washington at once detached Lafayette with twelve hundred men to co-operate with the French, at the same time ordering the Baron Steuben to report to that officer and assist him in every possible manner. The march of the land force was begun on the 22d of February, and all haste was made to reach the Chesapeake, but the expedition was a failure, for the reason that Arnold retreated with his vessels, so far up Elizabeth river, that he could not be followed by the French ships, and, as the latter brought no land force, they were obliged to return to Newport, with no better result than the

capture of one English frigate, and two privateers, with their prizes. It was then determined to repeat the attempt, with a larger naval force, and a sufficient body of French troops to render the defeat of Arnold a certainty. On the 8th of March, the entire fleet, with eleven hundred of the line, sailed from Newport, and Lafayette was again on the alert to assist, but again he was doomed to disappointment, for the British fleet, under Arbuthnot, arrived at Portsmouth, having set out in pursuit of the French. The fleets, nearly equal in strength, had met, and, after a battle lasting about two hours, both had withdrawn, badly crippled, the French to return to Newport; the British to make the best of their way to Portsmouth.

In the meantime Washington became much alarmed for the safety of Greene; two thousand men had sailed from New York, and he could scarcely doubt that the intention was to effect the juncture of this force, increased by that under Arnold, with Cornwallis, and, this being accomplished, sweep the colonial forces from the South. Hence, he ordered Lafayette to march to the relief of Greene. Phillips arrived at Portsmouth on the 26th of March, and spent some time in strengthening the works at that place. Then, on the 18th of April, he embarked his men in boats of light draft, and proceeded up the James river, upon a marauding expedition, by which Petersburg, Chesterfield Court House, and Warwick suffered, by the burning of public and private store-houses, and the general ruthless destruction which distinguished the warfare of the British, after the measures of conciliation had been abandoned. Richmond was, for the time, saved by the presence of Lafayette, and Phillips descended the river, cautiously followed by the American general. Just at this time, Phillips received a dispatch from Cornwallis, announcing the advance of the latter from the South, for the purpose of effecting a juncture with the army of Virginia. This changed the plans of both Phillips and Lafayette, the former hastening to Petersburg, the place of rendezvous indicated by his superior; the latter taking post near Richmond, to await developments. Four days after the arrival of Phillips at Petersburg, that gallant officer died, leaving Arnold again in command, until the arrival of Cornwallis, which occurred on the 25th of May. The latter general was now strong in numbers, and had a very reasonable expectation of soon being stronger; he learned that Lord Rawdon would soon be reinforced by fresh troops from Ireland, and that Greene had been checked at Camden. He had no doubt of his ability to out-general and crush Lafayette, whom he contemptuously referred to as "that boy." Hence he had "brilliant hopes of a glorious campaign.'

At

There was, however, nothing very glorious about the wild and unsuccessful chase which Lafayette led him, during the month that followed. the end of that time, Wayne, having arrived with the Pennsylvania line, the order was changed, and, for another month, Cornwallis was the hunted, with Lafayette and Wayne in the pursuit. Finally, Lafayette was misled,