XXXV. 18. CHAP. daring adventure by Light Horse Harry. He had learned by reconnoitring, and by means of spies, the exact condi1779. tion of the garrison at Paulus Hook, now Jersey City, opposite New York. Thinking themselves secure from attack, because of their nearness to the main army, the officers, as well as men, were careless. Lee asked permisAug. sion to strike a blow within "cannon-shot of New York." Washington directed him "to surprise the fort, bring off the garrison immediately, and effect a retreat," and not to linger, lest he should himself be overpowered. About two o'clock in the morning they made themselves masters of the fort, and secured one hundred and fifty prisoners, with a loss to themselves of only two men. Soon alarm guns roused the garrison in New York, and Lee commenced his retreat. The exploit redounded much to his credit, and that of his company of horse. In compliment, Congress voted Wayne, as well as Lee, a gold medal. Oct. 9. An effort was again made to take Savannah. Count D'Estaing appeared with his fleet from the West Indies, and General Lincoln marched to aid in the siege. Several North Carolina regiments had been sent by the Commander-in-chief, and the militia turned out well. Prevost made every exertion to defend himself. But D'Estaing soon grew impatient; he must return to the West Indies lest the British fleet might accomplish some enterprise of importance. The siege must be either abandoned, or the town taken by assault. The latter was resolved upon; and it was undertaken with great disadvantages staring the assailants in the face. After they had carried some of the outworks, the Americans were forced to retire. Count Pulaski, when gallantly leading his men, was mor tally wounded. The French, who were at the post of the greatest danger, were also repulsed, and D'Estaing himself was wounded. Lincoln now retreated to Charleston. disbanded the militia, and the Count sailed to the West Indies. Thus, for the second time, the French, under the EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH-DANIEL BOONE. 463 XXXV. same officer, failed to co-operate efficiently with the CHAP Americans. Very great dissatisfaction was excited at this throughout the country. Clinton obeyed his instructions from home, evacuated Newport, and concentrated his main force at New York, which place he thought in danger of a combined attack from the Americans and French. In truth, Washington, in expectation of such aid, had called out the militia for that purpose, but when he heard that the French had sailed for the West Indies, he dismissed them, and went into winter-quarters near Morristown, New Jersey. When the coast was clear, Clinton sent seven thousand men by sea to Savannah, and soon after sailed himself with two thousand more, leaving a powerful garrison in New York, under the command of Knyphausen. 1779. Oct. 25. Dec. 29. Some years before the commencement of the war, Daniel Boone, the bold hunter and pioneer, had visited the region of Kentucky. Attracted by the fertility of the soil, the beauty of the forests, and the mildness of the climate, in connection with others, he formed a settlement on the Kentucky river. Thither Boone took his wife and daughters, the first white women in that region. There, 1773. during the war, these bold pioneers were in perils, fighting the Indians and levelling the forests. Harrod, another bold backwoodsman, founded Harrodsburg. The territory on the lower Kentucky, had been purchased of the Cherokees. Though Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, denounced the purchase as illegal, yet in spite of his proclamation, and the hostility of the Indians, the people, in numbers, emigrated to that delightful region. The Indians at the West were becoming hostile under the influence of British emissaries. The principal actor in this was Hamilton, the commandant at Detroit, against which place Congress resolved to send an expedition. XXXV. CHAP. While this was under consideration, George Rogers Clarke, an adventurous Virginian, set out from Pittsburg on an 1779. expedition against Kaskaskia, an old French town on the Mississippi. Clarke, though a backwoodsman of Kentucky, acted under the authority of Virginia. With two hundred men he floated in boats down the Ohio to the Falls, and there, on an island, thirteen families, his followers, made a settlement. Joined by some Kentuckians, he proceeded down the river, to near its mouth. Then hiding his canoes, the company struck through the woods to Kaskaskia. This town was claimed by the English since the surrender of Canada. The inhabitants were at once conciliated, when they heard of the alliance between the United States and France, and when they saw their relig 1778. ion respected and their property protected. Clarke also July entered into friendly relations with the Spaniards west of the Mississippi, at ST. LOUIS. When he returned to the Falls, he built a stockade fort on the south side of the Ohio; this was the germ of the present city of LOUISVILLE. Virginia claimed the region north of the Ohio, as conquered territory, erected it into the county of Illinois, and made arrangements to keep possession of it. Other bold pioneers were, about the same time, penetrating the wilderness further south. James Robertson, from North Carolina, who, eleven years before, led emigrants to settle on the head-waters of the Tennessee, now, May, with a company, crossed over into the valley of the Cumberland. They passed down that river till they found a desirable location, a bluff on its south shore. The company altogether amounted to nearly fifty persons. There, in the midst of the primeval forest, more than a hundred miles from the nearest settlement, they cleared some land and planted corn. Three of their number remained to guard the growing crop, and the others returned to bring their families. Emigration now began: one party set out through the wilderness, driving their cattle before them; NASHVILLE-JOHN PAUL JONES. 465 XXXV. another, with the women and children, went on board of CHAP. Congress, from time to time, made efforts to increase the continental navy, but many of the vessels had been lost. The privateers had aroused the ire and the vigilance of the entire British navy. Yet some American cruisers, fitted out in France, fearlessly sailed in quest of the enemy. The most distinguished of these commanders was John Paul Jones, a native of Scotland, but who had been brought to Virginia in childhood. He was one of the first officers commissioned by Congress for the navy. Jones, in command of the Ranger, of eighteen guns, spread terror around England, and even made a descent on the coast of Scotland. A small squadron of five French and American ships was fitted out at L'Orient, and placed under his command, to cruise in the British seas. Off the coast of Scotland, he met with a fleet of merchantmen, convoyed by a frigate and another armed vessel. It was night, and the battle, the most desperate in the annals of naval warfare, lasted three hours. Jones lashed his flag-ship, the Richard, to the British frigate Serapis, and thus, muzzle to muzzle, they poured into each other their broadsides. At length, both the English ships surrendered. Jones' flag-ship was so damaged, that in a few hours it went to the bottom. Sept. 23. XXXVI. CHAPTER XXXVI. WAR OF THE REVOLUTION-CONTINUED. Hardships of the Soldiers.-British Success at the South.-Colonel Tarle ton.-Charleston capitulates.-Defeat at Waxhaws.-Rev. James Cald well.-Maraud into Jersey.-Fleet at Newport.-The South unsubdued; her partisan Leaders.-Gates sent to take Command.-Disastrous Battle of Camden.-Death of De Kalb.-Sumter's Success and Defeat.Treason of Arnold.-Major André.-Movements of Cornwallis.-Colonel Ferguson. Battle of King's Mountain.-Tarleton repulsed.-General Greene in Command.-Rancorous Spirit between the Whigs and Tories.-British triumphant.-Affairs in Europe.-Henry Laurens.-Dan gers of England; her Energy. CHAP. THIS Winter, like the preceding, witnessed the hardships of the soldiers, who were often in great straits for pro1780. visions, and other necessaries. The depreciation of the currency continued; Congress was in debt, without money and without credit. To preserve the soldiers from starvation, Washington was under, to him, the painful necessity of levying contributions upon the people of the surrounding country. Jersey was drained almost to exhaustion; but her patriotism rose in proportion to her sacrifices; at one time, when deep snows cut off supplies from a distance, the subsistence of the whole army devolved upon her. "The women met together to knit and sew for the soldiery," and the farmers hastened to the camp with provisions, "stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets." A committee sent by Congress to inquire into the conMay. dition of affairs at Morristown, reported: "That the army was five months unpaid; that it seldom had more than |