hostile advance. The opposing armies were now only a few miles apart, and Howe hoped to provoke his adversary to a general action. Washington, however, knew too well the inadequacy of his army to risk his forces on so desperate a throw. He had not eight thousand effectives at his command, whereas the English General, who had been lately reinforced from home, could reckon on the services of thirty thousand good troops. It is true that Washington also had received reinforcements; but they were not very numerous, nor of the best quality, and it had been found necessary to divert several of the new recruits towards the north, to oppose a threatening movement from Canada. Howe was probably unaware of the weakness of his antagonist's regiments, or he would perhaps have advanced and given battle, though the position at Middlebrook was strong in itself, and well fortified by art. From this, his usual excess of prudence restrained him, and he accordingly employed every artifice to draw the enemy on to more exposed ground. Marching in two columns to Hillsborough, on the south side of the Raritan, he endeavoured to create an impression that he was about to advance to the river Delaware. But Washington declined to be tempted from his camp by this feint, and preferred to harass the English by skirmishing parties. Tired out by these tactics, Howe at length returned to New Brunswick, devastating the country on his line of march. From New Brunswick, on the 22nd of June, he fell back to Amboy, his other New Jersey post. While he was on the road, three regiments, under General Greene, fell upon his rear, and made a series of attacks, attended by considerable damage, all the way to Piscataway. Washington thereupon moved forward to Quibbletown with the main body of his army; and Howe, finding that he had left his stronghold, suddenly faced round, and advanced from Amboy to Westfield, on the north side of the Raritan, with the intention of turning the American left, gaining possession of the passes in the highlands, and so compelling the enemy to abandon the strong position in which he had lately been entrenched. On the morning of the 26th of June, Earl Cornwallis, with a detachment, proceeded against the Americans under Alexander (the titular Lord Stirling) and General Maxwell, and a hot engagement followed, ending in the rout of the insurgents, with considerable loss. Nevertheless, Washington was not outflanked, nor placed in any position of danger; for, retiring rapidly to Middlebrook, he once more reached the mountains, and took up a position in which Howe was not disposed to attack him.

The English Commander-in-Chief now resolved on a complete change of plan. Abandoning his original design of re-conquering New Jersey, he determined to go by sea to Philadelphia. He there fore withdrew his troops both from New Brunswick and Amboy, thus entirely quitting the province which at one time had been wholly in his pos session. On the 30th of June he crossed over to Staten Island, and on the 5th of July embarked a portion of his army on board transports, that he might in this way transfer them to the new object of attack. The weather was at its hottest, the men were overcrowded, and much suffering was the result. The new movement was objectionable in many ways; for it imperilled the health of the soldiers, and, by the relinquishment of New Jer sey, tended to encourage the insurgents by the appearance of hesitation and weakness. It had this advantage, however, that it caused great perplexity in the mind of Washington. The American General was of course ignorant of the direction which his opponent had taken, and, having received information that Burgoyne was approaching Ticonderoga from Quebec with a formidable army, he feared a junction of that commander with Howe It had long been known to Washington, through information supplied by spies and deserters, that a fleet of large vessels and transports was being got ready at New York; and it was supposed, and correctly, that its destination was Philadelphia But when the news of Burgoyne's approach reached the American head-quarters, considerable doit was created as to the general intention of th campaign. It then seemed not improbable that the fleet was designed to carry troops up Hudson, and that operations against New England were to be undertaken, with a view to creating a diversion in favour of Burgoyne. The English commanders had always shown great solicitude for the possession of the Hudson, as a means of securing their communications with Canada, and of separating the eastern from the southern States. Yet it was equally evident that Howe had for a long time been aiming at Philadelphia, and it would therefore have been highly injudicious to leave that position entirely open. To guard the Hudson, Washington despatched two regiments to Peeks kill; but at the same time he kept a watch in the direction of the Delaware.

the

1777.]

that they left Sandy Hook. Information soon reached Washington of the direction taken by the fleet, which, instead of sailing up the Hudson, was sent in a southerly direction along the coast of New Jersey. It seemed that there could no longer be any doubt as to the point at which the enemy intended to strike. The army was to be carried up the Delaware, and employed against the capital of Pensylvania, to which Congress had returned after the successes at Princeton and its neighbourhood. Without a moment's hesitation, Washington turned back, recalled his troops from the vicinity of Peekskill, and directed the whole army by various routes to the banks of the Delaware. By the 30th of July, Howe had reached the capes of that river; but, being then informed that the Americans had obstructed the navigation of the stream, he altered his course, continued in a southerly direction, and entered Chesapeake Bay. Washington had by this time taken up a position at Germantown, on the Pennsylvanian side of the Delaware, where he was in the best position for defending Philadelphia. He himself went forward to Chester, south-west of the capital, where he soon learned the new direction of the invading fleet. This revived his feeling of perplexity; but until the destination of the British troops could be ascertained, it was impossible to make new arrangements, and the larger part of the American army accordingly remained at Germantown, in readiness to march at a moment's notice in any direction which might be found necessary.

While thus waiting for information, Washington passed two or three days at Philadelphia, consulting with the authorities there. It was then that he made the acquaintance of a young man destined to acquire distinction in America, and whom we have already had occasion to mention. This was the Marquis de Lafayette, who, acting on the generous emotion excited in his mind by the declamation of the Royal Duke of Gloucester on his visit to Metz in 1776, had come out to America to see what he could do in aid of the Republican cause. and he was prepared to risk all for the furtherance of what he regarded with so much admiration. Before quitting France, he had sought an interview, at Paris, with Silas Deane, who promised that, if he would join the American forces, he should receive from Congress the rank of Major-General, though age was then not much more than nineteen. He was to be accompanied by the Baron de Kalb, and by eleven other officers of lower rank than himself. Having secretly despatched an agent to Bordeaux, where he was to purchase and prepare a vessel for

His enthusiasm was unbounded,

his

297

the voyage, he crossed the channel to London, to see his uncle, the Marquis de Noailles, French Ambassador at the Court of St. James's. Noailles presented his nephew to the King, who said to Lafayette, "I hope you mean to stay some time in England." Lafayette replied that it was not in his power to do so. "What obliges you to leave us?" asked the King. The question was startling,. and Lafayette answered, rather disingenuously, that he had a very particular engagement, and that, if his Majesty were acquainted with it, he would not desire him to stay. George, not unnaturally, expressed displeasure at this reply when events had shown what was its real meaning; but it may have resulted from simple embarrassment, for Lafayette, by his own confession, was all his life a man of nervously awkward manners. The young enthusiast shortly afterwards informed the Ambassador of his speedy return to France, but not of his ultimate design with regard to America. At Bordeaux he learned that Lord Stormont, having discovered his purpose, had complained of it to the Government, which had in consequence issued a lettre de cachet for his arrest. Resolving not to be defeated, he crossed the Spanish frontier in the disguise of a courier, and embarked in his vessel from Pasages.

When the truth with regard to Lafayette came to the knowledge of the English court, it was believed that the Marquis de Noailles had from the first been cognisant of the design, which, however, appears not to have been the case. The Ministers took care to let the French Ambassador see that they suspected him; but he seems to have been really annoyed at the escapade. Several years after, when Noailles, then Ambassador at Vienna, was visited by his nephew, he said to him, "Now, Lafayette, I hope you have not come here to play me another such trick as you did in London."* The French Government were apparently sincere in their desire to restrain the young devotee; for, finding the lettre de cachet of no avail, they sent two vessels after the fugitive, but without any result, Lafayette got safely across the Atlantic, and towards the middle of June landed on the coast of South Carolina, whence he proceeded to Philadelphia. The members of Congress seem not to have received him very warmly, and to have regarded Silas Deane's promise that he should be made a General as rather extravagant, Ultimately,

These facts with regard to Lafayette and his uncle are mentioned by Mr. James Grahame, in the Notes to Vol. IV. of his "History of the United States," on the authority of information given to him at Paris, in 1829, by Lafayette him. self.

however, they ratified that promise, on the French nobleman declaring his willingness to serve as a volunteer, and that he would accept no pay. This was on the 31st of July. The first introduction of Lafayette to Washington took place shortly afterwards at a dinner-party, where several members of Congress were present. Mr. Jared Sparks, in his collection of Washington's writings, has published, from information derived from the Marquis's own lips, an interesting account of the meeting of these two famous men. When they were about to separate (says this narrative), Washington took Lafayette aside, spoke to him very kindly, complimented him on the noble spirit he had shown, and the sacrifices he had made in favour of the American cause, and then told him that he should be pleased if he would make the quarters of the Commander-in-Chief his home, establish himself there whenever he thought proper, and consider himself at all times as one of his family; adding, in a tone of pleasantry, that he could not promise him the luxuries of a court, or even the conveniences which his former habits might have rendered essential to his comfort, but that, since he had become an American soldier, he would doubtless contrive to accommodate himself to the character he had assumed, and submit with a good grace to the customs, manners, and privations of a Republican army. His horses and equipage were immediately sent to camp; and ever afterwards, even when he had the command of a division, he kept up his intimacy at head-quarters, and enjoyed all the advantages of a member of the General's family.*

It does not appear how the conversation at this first interview was carried on; for Washington did not understand French, and Lafayette, at that date, had only a very slight knowledge of English. This want of a common language was always a great trouble in the American camp, where many foreigners had now assembled. A knowledge of French was at that time not very common in England, but it was still more rare in America. A certain Captain Walker is described as the only officer in the American army who could speak French, unless Hamilton could be accounted a second. Walker acted as aide-de-camp to Baron Steuben, a Prussian who had served under Frederick the Great, and who joined the Americans a few months later than Lafayette. The Baron was extremely useful in improving the discipline of the

Appendix to Vol. V. of Washington's Writings, pp. 454-5.

inexperienced provincials; but his small command of English sadly embarrassed him, not only in con veying his instructions, but in venting his temper when those instructions were misunderstood, or not properly carried out. An American biographer relates of him that, on such occasions, after he had exhausted all the execrations he could think of in German and French, he would call to Captain Walker, "Venez, Walker, mon ami! Sacré de gaucherie of dese badauds; je n'en puis plus! I can curse dem no more!" Pulaski, the Pole, was similarly troubled, and some notes of his are preserved, which profess to be written in English, but which are scarcely intelligible.

teers.

During the pause in the main operations of the American army which was necessitated by the uncertainty of Washington as to the movements of the English under Sir William Howe, a spirited and successful enterprise was conducted towards the north by a band of Rhode Island volunIn that part of the Union, General Prescott was in command of the Royal forces. His headquarters were on the west side of the island, near Narragansett Bay, about a quarter of a mile from the shore, and at some distance from any body of troops. His situation, in fact, was similar to that of Lee a few months earlier, and he shared a similar fate. He trusted for protection to the numerous cruisers which were constantly passing to and fro along the shore, and to a guard-ship which lay in the bay opposite to his quarters. But this r liance proved illusory. At the head of forty men, Colonel Barton proceeded by night, on the 10th of July, from Warwick Neck to Rhode Island, eluded the British ships, and about midnight reached the General's quarters undiscovered. Securing the sentinel, they surprised the General in bed, and, without giving him time to put on his clothes, hurried him on board their vessel, and conveyed him to Providence. This was a very happy stroke, since it enabled the Americans to exchange General Prescott for General Lee, who returned to the service of his adopted countrymen. His reputation, however, had by this time fallen very considerably. As some people have no opinion of a physician who cannot keep himself in good health, so it was now generally held by the Americans that an officer who could not save his person from the clutches of the enemy was not very likely to save the Republic. They began by overrating him; they ended by doing him an injustice. With all his faults, Lee was a man of ability, of varied experience, and of powerful mind.