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BATTLE OF BENNINGTON.

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Ticonderoga. He then pressed forward to reach the Hudson. General Howe was to send an army under Sir Henry Clinton to meet him there. Meanwhile, another British expedition, starting from Oswego, was to raise a force of Iroquois Indians and unite with Burgoyne. Thus the three English armies expected to get the entire control of the state of New York and the Hudson River, and so carry out the favorite plan of cutting off New England "the head of the rebellion" - from the other colonies.

The Oswego expedition accomplished nothing, but all went well with Burgoyne until he struck into the wilderness south of Lake Champlain. Then his troubles began. General Schuyler1 broke down all the bridges, felled trees across the only road there was through the woods, and did everything to make Burgoyne's life a burden to him. To add to his misfortunes, the British general's horses and provisions began to give out. He sent an expedition with a thousand men to Bennington, Vermont, to get more. Colonel John Stark, one of the heroes of Bunker Hill, with a small force, started to meet the enemy. Pointing to the "redcoats," he said, "There they are, boys; we beat them to-day or Molly Stark's a widow." Mrs. Stark had no occasion to put on mourning; for her husband, with his men, whipped the British (August 16, 1777) so badly that less than a hundred out of the thousand ever got back to Burgoyne. Washington called the victory a "great stroke." It was, indeed, for by weakening Burgoyne's force, and preventing his getting provisions, it prepared the way for his final downfall.

178. Howe's Expedition to Pennsylvania; Battle of Brandywine; Philadelphia taken; Battle of Germantown. While these events were happening Howe started to march on Philadelphia. Washington had not men enough to meet

1 General Philip Schuyler of Albany, New York.

2 See Paragraph 40.

8 As Mrs. Stark's name was Elizabeth, this story has been called in question: but the fact remains that Stark thrashed the enemy.

him in open fight, but he so worried him, and wasted his time, that the British general finally went back with his army to New York in disgust. He then started by sea. Finding that he could

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not go up the Delaware, which was fortified against him, he sailed south, entered Chesapeake Bay, and land

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ing at the head of it, marched against Philadelphia. Washington met him at Brandywine Creek, and tried to check his advance; but Howe had a much stronger force, and the battle (September 11, 1777) delayed but did not stop the British. Two weeks later the enemy entered the city which was then the capital of the United States. Leaving a small force at Germantown, now a

part of Philadelphia, Howe went down the Delaware to capture the forts and get possession of that river. While he was gone Washington attacked the British at Germantown, but was repulsed. He then fell back to the hills on the Schuylkill at Valley Forge, about twenty miles northwest of Philadelphia.

179. Saratoga; the "Stars and Stripes"; Help from France. Meanwhile, great events had happened in the North. Burgoyne had fought two battles in the neighborhood of Saratoga (1777), had been utterly defeated, and his entire army, numbering about six thousand men, captured. If to this number we add

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1 The first battle was at Bemis Heights, between Saratoga Lake and the Hudson, September 19; the second, at Stillwater, south of the Heights, October 7. Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, October (1777). See Map on page 172.

CAPTURE OF BURGOYNE.

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that of the prisoners taken by us before the surrender, and the loss of the enemy at Bennington,' it will give a total of nearly 10,000- or about one-third the entire British force then in America. The captured army was marched off by the American officers triumphantly bearing the "stars and stripes," which had just been adopted as our national flag. General Gates got the credit of the victory; but Benedict Arnold, and Daniel Morgan 5 with his sharpshooters, were the men who really won it, partly by gallant fighting, and partly by cutting off all supplies from the enemy, and at last literally starving them into a surrender.

In the wars of over twenty centuries an eminent English writer finds only fifteen battles that have had a lasting influence on the world's history. The American victory at Saratoga, he says, was one of them. It had indeed these two immense results: 1. It completely broke up General Howe's plans for the war. 2. It secured for us the aid of England's old and powerful enemy, France.

Some time after the victory, Lafayette received letters from Paris. When he had read them he ran to Washington, and embracing him with tears of joy, cried out, "The King, my master, has

1 See Paragraph 177.

2 The estimates of Burgoyne's loss vary from about 6000 at Saratoga to a total (for his entire campaign in New York) of 14,000.

3 The first United States flag (adopted by Congress, June 14, 1777) having the stars and stripes, was made, it is said, out of a soldier's white shirt, an old blue army overcoat, and a red flannel petticoat. It was hoisted by our army at Fort Stanwix (near Rome), New York, during Burgoyne's campaign in 1777. Paul Jones appears to have first raised this flag at sea. The flag raised by Washington at Cambridge when he took command of the army was the English flag with thirteen red and white stripes added.

4 General Gates, like General Charles Lee (see Paragraph 172), was born in Great Britain, and had served in the English army. He appears to have taken no direct part in these battles; in fact, he was not actually on the field in either.

5 Daniel Morgan of New Jersey. He commanded a force of five hundred picked riflemen —“sharpshooters"—with aim so accurate that it was humorously said that any one of them could toss up an apple and shoot all the seeds out of it as it fell. The enemy who had to face these riflemen never disputed the story.

6 "The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, from Marathon to Waterloo," by Sir Edward S. Creasy.

acknowledged the independence of America, and will sign a treaty to help you establish it." It was true. Men are always willing to help those who show that they are able to help themselves. We had shown it, and now France held out her hand to us. The next year (February 6, 1778) Benjamin Franklin, our minister1 at Paris, obtained the treaty or agreement by which the French king pledged himself to send us men, ships, and money to complete the war. Franklin and Washington were, in fact, the two great men who carried the war through to final success : Washington by destroying enemies, Franklin by gaining friends; Washington by the sword, Franklin, like Morris, with the purse.1

180. Summary.—The war of Independence began with the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. In the first battle, that of Long Island, the Americans were defeated. Washington retreated across the Delaware, but returned and gained the brilliant victory of Trenton. Howe took Philadelphia; but shortly after, the Americans captured Burgoyne and his whole army at Saratoga; in consequence of that success France recognized the independence of America, and pledged herself to help us fight our battles by land and sea.

3. THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE: FROM THE TREATY WITH FRANCE TO THE END OF THE WAR, 1778–1783.

181. Washington at Valley Forge, Winter of 1777–1778 ; Peace offered; Howe leaves Philadelphia. - But though the great victory of Saratoga filled the land with joy, yet the winter which followed was a terrible one. While Howe and his officers were living luxuriously in Philadelphia, Washington's men, "naked and starving," were dying of putrid fever on the frozen hillsides

1 Minister: see note 3, page 185. Franklin lent all his ready money - about fifteen thousand dollars—to the country, to fight the battles of the Revolution, and lent it when everything looked against us. His influence got us a gift from France -nearly two million dollars-and a loan of over three million dollars more, Thus he used his own purse and the purse of the French king to help us.

BATTLE OF MONMOUTH.

177

of Valley Forge. They were dying, too, before the good news could reach them - for news from Europe travelled very slowly in those days—that the French king would certainly aid America.

But the next spring (1778) England, alarmed at the action of France in taking our part, offered us peace, representation in Parliament — anything, everything in fact, but independence. But it was independence that we were fighting for, and the offer was rejected. Fear of the approaching French fleet now compelled the British1 to abandon Philadelphia and start for New York.

182. Battle of Monmouth; Lee's Disgrace; Indian Massacres; Clark's Victories in the West. Fifteen thousand of the English forces were to go by land across New Jersey. Now was Washington's opportunity. With about the same number he followed them up sharply. A battle was fought at Monmouth (June 28, 1778). It would have ended in a brilliant victory for our side, if General Charles Lee, who unfortunately had come back to us, had done his duty. He acted like a lunatic or a traitor. Washington sternly rebuked him, and shortly after ordered him to withdraw from the battle and go to the rear. Later, Lee was tried by court-martial for disobedience and misbehavior, and suspended from the army; eventually Congress dismissed him in disgrace, and in disgrace he died.

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Monmouth 5 was the last battle of note fought on northern soil. The British forces had now returned to New York and vicinity. Washington, with his army stretched out from Morristown, New Jersey, to West Point on the Hudson, watched them day and night.

1 During the winter General Howe resigned. His brother, Lord Howe, resigned the next summer (1778). Sir Henry Clinton succeeded General Howe in command of the army (May, 1779,) and Admiral Byron succeeded Lord Howe in command of the British fleet. 2 See Paragraph 173.

8 While Lee was a prisoner, the English government thought of hanging him as a deserter from their army. Washington saved him from the gallows - it was one of the few mistakes that great man ever made.

4 A court composed of military officers.

5 Monmouth: see Map, page 174.

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