the 16th of August these forces were attacked by General Stark, who was on his march with about sixteen hundred men, to join the northern army. The British were defeated, and suffered a loss of more than one half their forces, besides a large amount of arms. General Burgoyne having collected about thirty days' provisions and thrown a bridge of boats across the Hudson, crossed that river on the 13th and 14th of September, and encamped on the heights and plains of Saratoga. General Gates, who had recently taken the chief command of the northern department of the American army, advanced towards the enemy and encamped three miles above Stillwater. On the night of the 17th General Burgoyne encamped within four miles of the American army, and on the 19th advanced in full force against it. An engagement took place, in which a considerable portion of the armies took part. Each side suffered a loss of about six hundred men. Both armies lay for some time in sight of each other, the British being daily reduced by desertions of the Indians, and the American army continually augmented by reinforcements. To aggravate his distress, no intelligence had yet been received of any diversion in his favor from the army at New York. In this emergency General Burgoyne made preparations to effect a retreat to the lakes by dislodging the Americans from their posts on the left. In this attempt he met with defeat and a loss of several hundred men, including some of his most valuable officers; also a loss of nine pieces of artillery, and the encampment of a German brigade with all their equipage. General Gates now posted fifteen hundred men on the heights opposite the ford in Saratoga, two thousand in the rear to prevent a retreat to Fort Edward, and fifteen hundred at a ford higher up. The British were now almost encircled; the Americans, already superior in numbers, were daily reinforced, and there seemed to be no avenue for Burgoyne to escape. In this dilemma the British commander called a council of war, in which it was unanimously resolved to enter into a convention with General Gates. Preliminaries were soon settled, and the royal army surrendered prisoners of war. The whole number that surrendered were 5752. Besides these, there were left 528 of sick and wounded in the British camp when Burgoyne began his retreat. At the same time there were taken 39 brass cannon, 5000 stand of arms, 400 sets of harness, and a considerable amount of other military property. The British lost between the 6th of July and the 16th of October, in killed, wounded, and desertions, nearly three thousand men. Soon afterward the British abandoned Ticonderoga, which post was then immediately occupied by the Americans. Although Sir Henry Clinton afforded no relief to General Burgoyne, he succeeded in capturing Forts Clinton and Montgomery on the Hudson River in October, which if done earlier might possibly have had that effect. On the 15th of November the thirteen States by their representatives in congress entered into Articles of Confederation. 1778 By these articles the style of the confederacy was to be “The United States of America," and each State was to retain its sovereignty and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right which was not expressly delegated to the confedera tion. A firm league was entered into, by which the States were to be united for the common defence and for securing their liberties and mutual and general welfare. These articles were to be submitted to the legislatures of the several States for their approval and ratification. Congress resolved that the flag of the confederacy should be of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and that the Union be thirteen white stars in a blue field. Congress resolved to appoint the Marquis de la Fayette, who offered his services to the cause, to the rank of major-general in the army of the United States. The first newspaper published in New Jersey was issued at Burlington on the 3d of December, and called the New Jersey Gazette. Cold-cut iron nails were now manufactured at Cumberland, R. I., and it is said these were the first made in this or any other country. The success of the Americans in the northern campaign of the last year rendered it less difficult to secure foreign aid and influence. A plan of treaty to be proposed to foreign powers had been formed by congress, and commissioners were sent to Paris to solicit its acceptance by the King of France. For more than a year they were kept in a state of uncertainty. They received private encouragement, but could obtain no public acknowledgment. The capture of Burgoyne fixed the wavering policy of the French court, and on the 6th of February the King of France entered into a treaty of alliance with the United States, in which it was declared that if war should break out between France and England during the existence of that with the United States, it should be made a common cause, and that neither of the contracting parties should conclude either truce or peace with Great Britain without first obtaining the formal consent of the other; and they mutually agreed not to lay down their arms until the independence of the United States should be formally or tacitly assured by the treaty or treaties that should terminate the war. On the alliance of America with France it was resolved in Great Britain immediately to evacuate Philadelphia, and to concentrate the royal force in the harbor and city of New York. In pursuance with this resolution, the British army on the 18th of June passed over the Delaware into New Jersey and commenced its march to New York. At Monmouth they were attacked by the Americans, and a battle ensued in which both sides claimed the victory, although the British loss was much greater than their opponents. Soon after the evacuation con gress removed to Philadelphia. In July a French fleet with about four thousand troops under the command of Count D'Estaing, arrived on the coast 1779 of Virginia. Failing in his object of surprising the British fleet in the Delaware, he proceeded towards New York for the purpose of attacking them there; but finding that to be impracticable, he sailed for Newport upon the advice of General Washington, to act in conjunction with the Americans in an attempt on Rhode Island, where he arrived on the 25th of July. Soon afterward a British fleet appeared for the relief of Newport, and the two fleets sailed out to sea. After manœuvring for two days without coming to action, they were separated by a violent storm, and the French fleet sailed to Boston to refit. The year was drawing to a close, and no important advance had been made by the British. The commander-in-chief therefore resolved to make a demonstration upon the Southern States. A project was formed to invade Georgia from the north and south. On the 27th of November a fleet sailed from New York with about two thousand men, to act in concert with the British troops stationed in East Florida. On the 29th of December an attack was made upon the Americans who were defending Savannah. The British were victorious, killing about one hundred of the Americans and taking prisoners thirty-eight officers and four hundred and fifteen privates. The town and port of Savannah were captured, with forty-eight cannon, twenty-three mortars, all the ammunition and stores, the shipping in the river, and a large quantity of provisions. A horrible massacre was committed at the village of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, by a body of Tories and Indians. More than two hundred of the inhabitants were slaughtered, and nearly all the houses and property in the place destroyed. On the 6th of August, M. Gerard, the minister appointed The number of American prisoners confined in the jails of Great Britain, early in the year, was computed to be 924. A meeting in London was convened to relieve their distresses, and subscriptions were raised there and in the country of nearly twenty thousand dollars for that purpose. Vermont was constituted a State on the 13th of March. In August a fire in New York consumed about three hundred houses on the eastern side of the city. The campaign of this year was barren in important events. At the North a few enterprises were inaugurated by small detachments of the opposing armies. In July a predatory expedition was undertaken by the British against the towns on the Connecticut coast. About twenty-six hundred men, under Governor Tryon, accompanied by a fleet of armed vessels, sailed from New York and anchored at West Haven. A detachment of the troops marched into New Haven, and for about seven hours ravaged and plundered the town. Thence they successively plundered and burned the towns of Fairfield, Green Farms, and Norwalk. In the same month the Americans made an assault on the fort at Stony Point, on the Hudson River, and captured it, taking about five hundred and fifty prisoners, and a considerable quantity of military stores. An expedition, composed of a large force, sailed from Boston in July to dislodge the British at Penobscot, in Maine, where they had erected strong fortifications. The fleet consisted of twenty-four transports and about twenty armed vessels and privateers. The enterprise was unsuccessful; the vessels were all taken or destroyed by the British. The greater portion of the sailors and troops, however, escaped, and returned home on foot, exploring their way through a trackless wilderness. A more fortunate expedition was undertaken against the Indians belonging to the Six Nations, in New York, under the command of General Sullivan. The Indians, on hearing of the projected attack, collected their strength, took possession of a favorable location for defence, and strongly fortified it. General Sullivan attacked them in their works more than two hours, when they fled with precipitation. The victorious army, penetrating into the heart of their country, destroyed their villages, and laid their fields and gardens desolate. In March, in an engagement on the Savannah River, a body of about fifteen hundred North Carolina militia and sixty Continental troops were defeated. The greater part of the militia threw down their arms, and fled in confusion. About three hundred men were killed or taken prisoners. In May, a large British force appeared at Charleston, S. C., and summoned the town to surrender. The demand not being complied with, the enemy, having intelligence that a considerable reinforcement of American troops were on the way, resolved to retreat, and they departed at night without inflicting any injury upon the town. In the latter part of September an expedition composed of a part of the Southern army, and the French fleet under Count D'Estaing, consisting of eleven frigates and twenty sail of the line, made an attack on the fort and town of Savannah. It being at length ascertained that considerable time would be necessary to reduce the place by regular approaches, it was determined to make an assault. The assailants, composed of about thirty-five hundred French troops and one thousand Americans, were repeatedly driven back in confusion by the enemy's batteries; and after sustaining their fire for an hour, were ordered to retreat. About nine hundred French and American soldiers were killed or wounded. Immediately after this unsuccessful assault, the American militia, discouraged, retired to their homes, and the French fleet left the country. In May, a British land and naval force made a descent on the coast of Virginia. They took possession of Portsmouth and Norfolk; destroyed the houses, naval stores, and a large magazine of provisions at Suffolk; made a similar destruction at Kemp's Landing, Shepherd's, Gosport, Tanner's Creek, and other places in the vicinity; and after setting fire to the houses 1780 and other public buildings in the dockyard at Gosport, em. barked with their booty for New York. The seat for the_government of Virginia was removed from Williamsburg to Richmond by act of the assembly. At this time Richmond was so insignificant as scarcely able to afford accommodations for the officers of the government. No sooner did Sir Henry Clinton receive certain information that the French fleet had left America, than he set forward an expedition, consisting of large land and naval forces, against South Carolina. In April he had accomplished the investment of Charleston by sea and land, and on the 6th of May compelled the garrison of Fort Moultrie to surrender. The capitulation of the city soon followed, and the British took possession of the place, securing above five thousand surrendered prisoners of war, besides upwards of four hundred pieces of artillery. Sir Henry Clinton, leaving about four thousand men under the command of General Cornwallis for the southern service, embarked early in June for New York. On the 16th of August a battle took place near Camden, in South Carolina, in which the Americans were defeated with severe loss. During the year several engagements and skirmishes took place at the South with varying successes and defeats. The most flagrant instance of treachery during the war occurred this year. For the defence of the Hudson River a strong and impregnable fortress had been built at West Point, and this had been intrusted to the command of General Benedict Arnold. A negotiation with Sir Henry Clinton had been begun by Arnold, and was afterward concluded; by which, for a certain remuneration in money and rank in the enemy's service, he agreed to make such a disposition of his garrison as would enable the British general effectually to surprise and capture that stronghold. The agent employed by Sir Henry Clinton in the negotiations was Major André, adjutant-general of the British army. To favor the communications, the Vulture. a British sloop of war, had been stationed in the river, as near Arnold's post as could be without exciting suspicion. On the night of the 21st of September, Arnold sent a boat from the shore to the vessel to fetch Major André, and they met on the beach to discuss their plans. Their business not being finished, until it was too near morning for André to return to the Vulture- unobserved, it was necessary that he should remain on shore in concealment until night time. Meanwhile, the vessel having attracted the suspicious attention of people on the shore, sailed farther away, and the boatman who remained to carry André back refused, against all remonstrances, to do so. There was, therefore, no way for André to return to New York except by land. This he hesitatingly concluded to do. Changing his uniform for citizen's clothes, and mounted on a good horse, accompanied with a guide and a negro servant, and having a passport signed by Arnold, he crossed the river at Verplanck's Point early in the morning, and proceeded toward White Plains. When they reached, as they supposed, neutral ground beyond the |