Holland in the war.

more; a force which had been sent from New York to establish itself in Virginia was summoned by Cornwallis to his aid. The year had been marked by important movements in Europe. The Empress Catharine of Russia put forth a declaration of independence, as it may be styled, in behalf of the neutral states, by proclaiming their right to carry on their commerce in time of war exactly as in time of peace, provided they conveyed no contraband articles. This doctrine was wholly at variance with the rights of search and of blockade, as asserted by England in relation to neutral nations. But it prevailed; and a league, by the name of the Armed Neutrality, soon comprehended nearly the whole of Europe. Little, however, was effected by it; the Empress of Russia herself called it her Armed Nullity. Yet the circle of hostility against England went on widening. On the accession of Holland to the Armed Neutrality, Great Britain, having just before captured a minister to the Dutch from the United States, Henry Laurens, of South Carolina,-declared war at the close of 1780. But Holland no more became an ally of the United States than Spain had done.

Final

Confed

The "Articles of Confederation and Perpetual adoption Union between the States," adopted by Congress of the towards the end of 1777, were still in abeyance. eration. The states to whom they were sent for approval had found many objections to the plan of union. Some of the larger states disliked the right of the smaller states to an equal vote with themselves in Congress. The smaller opposed the claims of the larger to the unoccupied lands of the country, alleging that what was won by common exertion should be turned to common advantage. One state- New Jersey-had the wisdom to object that Congress, or the gen eral government, was not endowed with sufficient power especially on the matter of regulating the trade of the coun

try. These and other difficulties were but slowly surmounted. When all the rest had been removed, the question of the unoccupied lands was still a point upon which the articles hung motionless. The magnanimity with which this last obstacle was removed is a bright episode in the history of the times. New Jersey was the first of the smaller states to come into the Confederacy, relying upon the justice of her more powerful sisters, (November 20, 1778.) First of the landed states to cede her claims for the general welfare was New York, (February 19, 1780.) Her generosity, and the confidence of such states as New Jersey, induced the hitherto reluctant Maryland to waive her objections and sign the Articles. The thirteen were then complete, (March 1, 1781.)

Its inef

ficiency.

states.

Congratulations were general, and well founded, so far as they related to the closer union of the But nothing had been gained on the score of a national government. On the contrary, something had been lost; the powers of Congress being rather diminished than increased under the Articles of Confederation. Before their adoption, a majority of states decided a question; now, nine out of the thirteen must be united to carry any measure. The half pay for life, for instance, that had been voted to the officers of the army, was reconsidered and refused by the Congress of the Confederation, for want of nine states to vote for its fulfilment. All this had been foreboded and lamented. "A nominal head, which at present is but another name for Congress, will no longer do,”. thus wrote Washington. His aide-de-camp, Hamilton, wrote that Congress must be clothed with proper authority, "by resuming and exercising the discretionary powers originally vested in them," or "by calling immediately a convention of all the states, with full authority to conclude finally upon a general confederation," (1780.) Just before the adoption

of the Articles, the legislature of New York presented a formal memorial to Congress, saying, "We shall not presume to give our opinion on the question whether Congress has adequate powers or not. But we will without hesitation declare that, if they have not, they ought to have them, and that we stand ready on our part to confer them." If all these things could be said before the ratification of the Confederation, they could of course be repeated with even greater truth afterwards. A specimen of the inefficiency of the government occurs in relation to a proposal of import duties to be laid by Congress. Rhode Island refused to grant the necessary power to the government, and Virginia, after granting it, retracted it, (December, 1782.)

Defence

In the mean time events were hastening to a crisis of the in the field. General Greene, taking command of Carolinas. the southern army, with several American officers

and the Pole Kosciuszko in his train, determined to save the Carolinas. He was confirmed in his purpose by his brigadier, General Morgan, who, distinguished in various actions, won a decisive victory over Tarleton at the Cowpens, in South Carolina, (January 17.) Two months later, Greene and Morgan having retreated in the interval, the main bodies of the armies, British and American, met at Guilford, in North Carolina, (March 15.) Both retired from the field; the Americans first, but the British with the greater loss. Cornwallis withdrew towards Wilmington, pursued by Greene, who presently dashed into South Carolina. There he was opposed by Lord Rawdon, who at once defeated him in an engagement at Hobkirk's Hill, near Camden, (April 25.) This was a cruel blow to Greene's hopes of surprising South Carolina. "This distressed country," he wrote, "cannot struggle much longer without more effectual support." But it was not in Greene's nature to despair. While he advanced against the stronghold of

Ninety-Six, in South Carolina, he detached a body of troops under Lieutenant Colonel Lee to join a band of Carolinians and Georgians who were besieging Augusta. The result was the surrender of that town, (June 5.) But the fort at Ninety-Six held out against repeated assaults, and Greene was obliged to retire before the superior force which Rawdon was leading to raise the siege, (June 19.) For a time, the war subsided; then Greene reappeared, and fought the action of Eutaw Springs. He lost the field of battle, (September 8;) but the British, under Colonel Stuart, were so much weakened as to give way, and retreat precipitately towards Charleston. Thus from defeat to defeat, without the intermission of a single victory, in the common sense, Greene had now marched, now retreated, in such a brave and brilliant way, as to force the enemy back upon the seaboard. The successes of the militia and of the partisan corps had been equally effective. All the upper country, not only of the Carolinas, but of Georgia, was once more in the American possession.

$

The cen

At the time when things were darkest at the tral states south, greater perils arose at the centre of the in danger. country. Virginia was invaded in the first days of 1781 by a formidable force, chiefly of loyalists under the traitor Arnold. He took Richmond, but only to leave it and retire to Portsmouth, where he bade defiance both to the American militia and the French vessels from Newport, (January.) Soon after, two thousand British troops were sent from New York, under General Phillips, with directions to march up the Chesapeake against Maryland and Pennsylvania, (March.) This plan embraced the twofold idea of cutting off the Carolinas from all assistance, and of laying the central states equally prostrate. At about the same time, Cornwallis, baffled by Greene in North Carolina, set out to join the forces assembled in Virginia.

They, meanwhile, had penetrated the interior, swept the plantations and the towns, and taken Petersburg, (April.) The arrival of Cornwallis completed the array of the enemy, (May.) The very heart of the country was in danger.

"Our affairs,” wrote Washington before the con

Crisis. centration of the enemy in Virginia, “are brought to an awful crisis." "Why need I run into details," he wrote again," when it may be declared in a word, that we are at the end of our tether, and that now or never our deliverance must come?" "But we must not despair," he urged, as dangers accumulated; "the game is yet in our own hands; to play it well is all we have to do, and I trust the experience of error will enable us to act better in future. A cloud may yet pass over us, individuals may be ruined, and the country at large, or particular states, undergo temporary distress; but certain I am that it is in our power to bring the war to a happy conclusion."

American

tions.

The nation was far from being up to the emerprepara- gency. A spirit of weariness and selfishness was prevailing among the people. The army, ill disciplined and ill paid, was exceedingly restless. Troops of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey lines had broken out into actual revolt at the beginning of the year. The government was still ineffective, the Confederation feeble, Congress inert, not to say broken down. When one reads that this body stood ready to give up the Mississippi to Spain, nay, to waive the express acknowledgment of American independence as an indispensable preliminary to negotiations with Great Britain, when one reads these things, he may well wonder that there were any preparations to meet the exigencies of the times. The German Baron de Steuben, collecting troops in Virginia at the time of the invasion, was afterwards joined by Lafayette, whose troops had