more permanent army can be collected than is in the field at present, we must endeavor to keep up a partisan war, and preserve the tide of sentiment among the people as much as possible in our favor. Spies are the eyes of an army, and without them a general is always crossing in the dark, and can neither secure himself nor annoy his enemy. At present I am badly off for intelligence. It is of the highest importance that I get the earliest information of any reinforcements which may arrive at Charleston, or leave the town to join Lord Cornwallis. I wish you, therefore, to fix some plan for procuring such information, and for conveying it to me with all possible dispatch. The spy should be taught to be particular in his inquiries, and to get the names of the corps, strength, and commanding officer's name, place from whence they came and where they are going. It will be best to fix upon somebody in town to do this, and have a runner between you and him to give you the intelligence, as a person cannot make these inquiries without being suspected, who lives out of town. The utmost secrecy will be necessary in this business. Whatever sums of money are advanced for these purposes shall be repaid. Colonel Washington has taken Colonel Rugely and his party, consisting of about one hundred men.'

All these questions of organization were questions of difficulty, requiring great labor, sound judgment, and untiring zeal.

Another question which his instructions imposed upon him, and which, from his peculiar relations to General Gates, required judgment, delicacy, and that instinctive tact which teaches what to do and what to leave undone, was the court of inquiry which was to decide the fate of the unfortunate general. Greene felt the delicacy of his own position; and it was a great relief to his mind.

to find, as he did in his inquiries upon the spot, that Gates's conduct admitted of a milder interpretation than had been put upon it at a distance, and that the 'formal examination might be postponed without injury to the service. Postponement, he hoped, would prepare the public mind for the rescinding of the resolve of Congress, and the restoration of their former favorite to his rank and position in the army. That Greene was moved in part by compassion for the unhappy man, who in addition to his other cares, was mourning the loss of an only son, it is impossible to doubt. The terms of his instructions favored his views. It was impossible to organize the court in conformity with them without calling Steuben from his important command in Virginia; and this, all of his officers declared in writing, to be unadvisable. Gates was anxious for an immediate trial, but submitted, without complaining, to the delay; showing, as so many others have shown, that it is easier to bear adversity with dignity, than prosperity with moderation. On the 21st of the following May, he was permitted, by a special resolve of Congress, to "repair to head-quarters, and take such command as the Commander-in-chief shall direct."1

1 Vide Journals of Congress, ad diem. The order for the court of inquiry, however, was not rescinded.

CHAPTER VI.

Kosciusko sent to choose a Camp on the Pedee.- Drawing the Reins of Discipline. - Execution. - Bad Condition of the Hospitals. Major Hyrne appointed Commissary of Prisoners. - Want of Hard Money. Depreciation. Effect of it on Prices. - North Carolina. - Letter to Governor Nash.

Preparations for changing Camp. Cornwallis. · Condition of American Prisoners. · Officers of the Maryland Line. — Injudicious Distinction between Certificates. Bad Weather. - March to Hicks' Creek. Greene's Opinion of

his New Position.

So far was General Gates from expecting an early

renewal of active operations, that he had proposed to a council of war to establish winter quarters at Charlotte; and, supported by their decision, had proceeded already to build huts and get his army under cover when his successor reached that place. Greene did not approve of this decision, for he saw that it would be impossible to bring his army into proper order and discipline, so long as they depended upon the demoralizing process of daily collections for their daily food, the only process by which they could be subsisted in their present position. On the 8th, therefore, he wrote to Kosciusko :

"You will go with Major Polk and examine the country from the mouth of Little River, twenty or thirty miles down the Pedee, and search for a good position for the army. You will report the make of the country, the nature of the soil, the quality of the water, quantity of prod

uce, number of mills, and the water transportation that may be had up and down the river. You will also inquire respecting the creeks in the rear of the fords, and the difficulty of passing them; all which you will report as soon as possible."

On the 16th the army was put under marching orders, but owing to the heavy rains did not begin its march till the 20th. The spot chosen by Kosciusko was on Hicks' Creek, nearly opposite Cheraw Hill, on the east bank of the Pedee, and the site of the modern town of Chatham. Greene, who felt that the only way to "inspire his army with confidence and respect," was by independent action, changed his camp by a "single order," pausing only to make the necessary inquiries, and satisfy himself concerning the eligibility of the new position. "I call no councils of war," he wrote to Hamilton a month later, " and I communicate my intentions to very few." His first attack, indeed, was upon the demoralization of his own troops. "This army," he writes, "is in such a wretched condition that I hardly know what to do with it. The officers have got such a habit of negligence, and the soldiers so loose and disorderly, that it is next to impossible to give it a military complexion." 1 One of the most dangerous irregularities into which the men had fallen, was a custom of going home without permission, staying as long as they chose, and returning as if they had broken no law. Greene announced his intention of making an example of the first offender. In a few days a delinquent was seized, put on trial, con

1 Greene to Hamilton. - Hamilton's Works, vol. i. p. 206.

victed and hanged, in sight of the whole army, which was drawn up to witness the punishment. The impression was instantaneous. "We must not do as we have done," said the men; "it is new lords new laws."1

Greene's labor was incessant. Reports began to come in; some encouraging, far the larger part discouraging, but all calling equally for new instructions and new labor. He visited the advanced post at New Providence, to see the men and officers with his own eyes. No details seemed too trivial for his attention; and yet all who observed him saw that every measure formed part of a well digested plan. His first aim was to organize his army by organizing the departments on which it depended. This was successfully initiated by the appointment of Carrington and Davie to the two most important of them. No change was required in the hospital department, which was under charge of Dr. William Read, whom he had long known as a physician of sound judgment, untiring zeal, and great humanity. But the report of the medical store-keeper, like those of all the other heads of department, revealed alarming deficiences in the most important articles. "How deplorable would the state of the soldier be in case of action," writes Read, on the 14th of December, "without one particle of lint or bandages!'

The office of commissary of prisoners was offered to Edward Giles, who declined it in order to enter the military family of General Smallwood. It was then given to Major Hyrne.

1 Gordon, vol. iv. p. 28.