Public Papers of Governor

rush to the frontiers which lay open, exposed and helpless to the marauder-from the Pennsylvania line near Tioga to New Hampshire two sides of a large triangle. Alarms were frequent; daring and destructive raids of Tories and Indians kept the nerves of the inhabitants drawn to the highest tension; crops that were not burned were neglected, or ruined from blight; animals of the field were carried away or killed; houses and barns were set ablaze with the torch and the whole region presented a sorrowful picture of desolation and terror. The militia were utterly unable to cope with the serpent like tactics employed. Washington had urged a permanent army--on the grounds of economy, greater mobility and discipline, and also for the wholesome effect that might be produced upon the enemy, our allies and Europe. He was unwilling to weaken his plans, even now by forwarding "line" regiments for the protection of New York's frontiers, in spite of the importuning of Governor Clinton and of General James Clinton who had been assigned to the command at Albany. It was not alone the distress among the inhabitants which followed in the wake of the currency depreciation that James Clinton was called upon to provide against; nor the wild and uncontrollable panic, periodically produced by a restless and merciless enemy that disturbed him most, but the danger of being compelled to abandon the territory under his jurisdiction, and the threatened dissolution of his command, thoroughly loyal and patriotic, through mutiny and starvation. No better illustration of the apparent hopelessness of the American cause in the winter of 1781-the darkest hour before the dawn- can be found than the series of letters which this loyal, patient, uncomplaining soldier, wrote to his brother, the governor, concerning the destitution of his command.

For military operations, the South became the fighting arena, with the usual concatenation of American reverses. Washington, for the best of military reasons, still nursed his plan to make a grand demonstration against New York city. He held his army well in hand: to act offensively, should Sir Henry Clinton detach a portion of his command to reinforce Cornwallis, and, defensively, should the English advance to attack him. In all his career, Washington's ability and qualities as a great commander were never, to his own generation, more brilliantly displayed; and for posterity, more solidly established than during this period. He proved his perfect knowledge of the first rule of war and gave a double exemplification of his knowledge of its application, first in circumventing the designs of the enemy, and second in completely deceiving the enemy in the execution of his own designs.

The operations along our frontier, the incursions of the enemy at different points and periods, the suffering, discontent and privations of the troops, the anxiety endured, the patience exercised and the patriotism shown by the men, high in authority, military and civil, are set forth voluminously in the following pages, with a fidelity, perspicuity and credibility, invaluable alike to the novelist and to the historian.

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