the capture of Burgoyne at Saratoga, finished the war with a clap of thunder.

An unexpected heavy firing in the rear of an army, while the commander-in-chief is absent, will always prove disastrous. It was clear as noonday that the inmates of Chew's house, finding themselves watched by a regiment with artillery, would never have dared to sally forth on the rear of a victorious army, and the Battle of Germantown was lost by the very conduct which constitutes a martinet. Knox was the only general officer in the consultation held upon the building, and it was natural that Washington, who had, and justly, a high opinion of his military skill, should place more confidence in his judgment that in that of his young aids. But in battle, rules should never arrest fortune, or be used to stem the current of events, when setting favorably. Impulse in the heat and excitement of close conflict is often wiser than the sagest experience. At all events in this case it was applying a general rule where it did not belong, and arresting the whole practical action of a battle by a mere technicality; and although Washington attributes the failure to Providence, Providence will always be found against such bad management as that halt at Chew's house most indubitably was. Knox and Providence are by no means one and the same, and had the opinion of the general been less scientific and more practical, the course of Providence would have taken a far different, and more satisfactory direction. Not that I would intimate that Providence does not overrule all our actions and bring about the best results in the end. I mean simply to say what no man doubts, that blunders, bad management, and unwise conduct, Providence generally allows to work mischief to those who are guilty of them. It is not a difficult matter now, when every thing is understood, to fix the turning point of the battle, or to locate the blame, but it is quite another thing to say how great, under all the circumstances, that blame was. Finding his entire

army enshrouded in a dense fog; knowing by the heavy and constant firing that the troops were nearly out of ammunition, and fearing to get entangled in a net-work of just such houses as that of Chew's, Washington may have well hesitated about advancing, unless he could make a clean sweep as he went. But so far as the regarding of this single house as a fort or castle, it is palpable as noon-day that the junior officers were right, and Knox totally, fatally wrong. The whole upper part of the building would scarcely hold a regiment, while not a hundred men could fire to advantage from it at a time. After the field in front had been swept, a flag sent to it would not have been fired on, and a valuable officer lost his life. Still, though chagrined, the troops were not dispirited. They had attacked the veterans of England, and enjoyed the pleasure of chasing them in affright from their own encampment.. Neither did Congress mourn over the defeat. Almost a victory was rather a subject of congratulation, for it gave confidence to the troops and lessened their fear of the enemy. The British confessed it was the severest handling they had yet received, and although Howe, as usual, made his loss but trifling, it evidently amounted to about eight hundred men. Mr. Sparks thinks that this battle had nearly as much to do in fixing the wavering determination of France, respecting the recognition of our independence, as the capture of Burgoyne, remarking that Count De Vergennes said to one of our commissioners in Paris, "that nothing struck him so much as General Washington attacking and giving battle to General Howe's army; that to bring an army raised within a year to this, promised everything." This may have had its weight in the French Councils, but such a remark was doubtless more complimentary than serious, for one cannot imagine what an army is raised for, except to attack the enemy, and that, too, within less than a year.

CHAPTER X.

Fall of Burgoyne-Sermon of Timothy Dwight-Letter from Washington to Howe-Attack on Fort Mercer, and Death of Count Donop-Gallant Defense and Fall of Fort Mifflin-Fall of Fort Mercer-March of Howe against Washington, and Address of the latter to his Troops-The Conway Cabal and Fate of the head Conspirators-Valley Forge-Sufferings of the Soldiers-Washington at Prayer-Labors of Washington, and Inefficiency of Congress-The HalfPay Establishment-Washington's Answer to the Complaint that he did not make a Winter Campaign-News of the Alliance of France-Celebration of it in Valley Forge-Baron Steuben and the Effects of his Discipline on the ArmyHowe resolves to Evacuate Philadelphia-Council of War in American Camp on the best course to adopt.

FOUR days after the failure at Germantown, the second battle of Saratoga was fought, and Burgoyne, now completely hemmed in, turned, as a last resource, to Sir Henry Clinton, who was endeavoring to force his way up the Hud son to his rescue. The latter had succeeded in taking both forts Montgomery and Clinton, though bravely defended by Generals James, and George Clinton. His effort, however, came too late. For six days Burgoyne gloomily bore up against the decree which he knew was written against him. But his unrelenting foes day by day gathered closer and darker around him. They pitched their balls into his uncovered camp, and from every height played with their artillery on his dispirited columns. Through the hall of council, where his officers were moodily assembled, through the very apartment where he sat at dinner, cannon balls would crash, while all around his camp the steadily increasing storm gave fearful indications of his overthrow. For awhile he turned and turned, like a scorpion girt with fire, but his proud, ambitious heart was at last compelled to yield, and that splendid army, on which he had fondly hoped to build his fame and secure rank and glory, laid down its arms. Forty-two brass cannon, five thousand

stand of arms, and all the camp equipage, fell into the hands of the Americans, and one long, loud shout of triumph and of joy rolled through the northern colonies. Gates, inflated by success, for which he had Arnold to thank, refused to report his victory to Washington, but sent his dispatch to Putnam, at Fishkill, with the request to deliver it to Congress. Putnam, overjoyed at the news, spread it through the army, and shouts, and the firing of cannon signalized the glorious event. Rev. Timothy Dwight, a chaplain in the army, preached a sermon at head-quarters, next day, from the text, "I will remove far off from you the northern army." Never was a sermon so listened to before by the officers and troops. Putnam could not refrain from nodding and smiling during the discourse at the happy hits with which it was filled, and at the close was loud in his praises of Mr. Dwight and the sermon, though, to be sure, he said there was no such text in the Bible—the chaplain having coined it to suit the occasion. When shown the passage, he exclaimed, "Well, there is every thing in that book, and Dwight knows just where to lay his finger on it.”

Washington, distressed for want of men, had written Gates, after the first battle, to send him Morgan's corps, if the enemy was retreating. Gates declined, on the ground that Burgoyne was still in front. Two days after, the decisive battle was fought, and yet he retained the troops until the terms of the capitulation were settled, and its formalities gone through with.

About this time Washington received a letter from Howe, in which the latter remonstrated warmly against the destruction of several mills, by the American troops, on the ground that it inflicted distress on the inhabitants. Washington defended his conduct as perfectly consistent with the usages of war, and added, "I am happy to find that you express so much sensibility to the sufferings of the inhabitants, as it gives room to hope that those wanton and unnecessary de

predations which have heretofore, in many instances, marked the conduct of your army, will be discontinued. The instances I allude to need not be enumerated; your own memory will suggest them to your imagination, from the destruction of Charlestown, in Massachusetts, down to the more recent burning of mills, barns, and houses, at the head of Elk and in the vicinity of the Schuylkill." No man knew better how to deal these severe home thrusts than Washington. They were given, however, as a just punishment, and did not spring from a revengeful temper, for on the very day the flag bore this caustic note, another accompa nied the following civil card: "General Washington's compliments to General Howe, and does himself the pleasure to return to him a dog which accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the collar appears to belong to General Howe."

The two armies lying so near each other, constant skirmishes took place between detached parties, in which great skill and bravery were frequently exhibited. It became very difficult for Howe to collect forage, and in the partisan warfare which the attempt created the British were sure to be losers.

In the meantime, Howe pushed his efforts to clear the Delaware below the city, so that the fleet could come up. Washington, on the other hand, determined at all hazards to prevent it; for he knew that unless Howe could open his communication with the ships he would be compelled to evacuate Philadelphia. Forts Mercer and Mifflin, on Red and Mud Banks, protected by a fleet of galleys and other vessels, under the command of Com. Hazlewood, was the only barrier between the British army and their ships, and against these Howe immediately directed a large force Col. Christopher Green, with four hundred men from the two Rhode Island regiments, garrisoned Fort Mercer, while Colonel Smith, with about the same number of Maryland