Anderson of the Maryland line; and the generals Stephens and Huger were wounded.

The British troops underwent great hardships in the courfe of this campaign; and in a letter of Lord Cornwallis's to Lord George Germain, dated March 17th, he obferved, that "the foldiers had been two days without bread." His lordship quitted Guildford three days after the battle which was fought in that place; and on the 7th of April arrived in the neighbourhood of Wilmington. Soon after, General Greene, notwithstanding his late defeat, endeavoured to make fome vigorous attempts against the king's forces in South Carolina. Lord Rawdon had been appointed to defend the poft of Camden, with about eight hundred British and provincials; and on the 19th of April General Greene appeared before that place with a large body of continentials and militia. He found it, however, impoffible to attempt to ftorm the town with any profpect of fuccefs; and therefore endeavoured to take fuch a pofition as fhould induce the British troops to fally from their works. He pofted the Americans about a mile from the town, on an eminence which was covered with woods, and flanked on the left by an impaffable fwamp. But on the morning of the 25th, Lord Rawdon marched out of Camden, and with great gallantry attacked General Greene in his camp. The Americans made a vigorous refistance, but were at last compelled to give way; and the pursuit is faid to have been continued three miles. For fome time after the action commenced, General Gates entertained great hopes of defeating the British troops; in which, as the Americans were fuperior in point of numbers, he would probably have fucceeded, had not fome capital military errors been committed by one or two of the officers who ferved under him. On the American fide Colonel Washington behaved extremely well in this action, having made upwards of two hundred of the English prifoners, with ten or twelve officers, before he perceived that the Americans were abandoning the field of battle. The lofs of the English was about one hundred killed and wounded. Upwards of one hundred of the Americans were taken prisoners; and, according to the account published by General Greene, they had one hundred and twenty-fix killed and wounded. After this action, Greene retreated to Rugeley's mills, twelve miles from Camden, in order to collect his troops and wait for reinforcements.

Notwithstanding the advantage which Lord Rawdon had obtained over General Greene at Camden, that nobleman foon after found it neceffary to quit that poft; and the Americans made themfelves mafters of feveral other pofts that were occupied by the king's troops, and the

garrifons

1

garrifons of which were obliged to furrender themselves prifoners of war. These troops were afterwards exchanged under a cartel which took place between Lord Cornwallis and General Greene for the release of all prisoners of war in the fouthern district. After thefe events, General Greene laid clofe fiege to Ninety-fix, which was confidered as the moft commanding and important of all the pofts in the back-country; and on the 19th of June he attempted to form the garrifon, but was repulfed by the gallantry of the British troops, with the loss, as it is faid, of seventy-five killed and one hundred and fifty wounded. General Greene then raifed the fiege, and retired with his army behind the Saluda, to a ftrong fituation within fixteen miles of Ninety fix.

On the 18th of April a large body of British troops, under the command of Major-general Philips and Brigadier-general Arnold, embarked at Portsmouth in Virginia, in order to proceed on an expedition for the purpose of destroying fome of the American ftores. A party of lightinfantry were sent ten or twelve miles up the Chickahomany: where they deftroyed several armed fhips, fundry warehoufes, and the American ftate fhip yards. At Petersburgh, the English destroyed four thoufand hogfheads of tobacco, one fhip, and a number of fmall veffels on the stocks and in the river. At Chefterfield court-house, they burnt a range of barracks for two thousand men and three hundred barrels of flour. At a place called Oborn's, they made themfelves mafters of feveral veffels loaded with cordage and flour, and deftroyed about two thousand hogfheads of tobacco, and fundry vefiels were funk and burnt, At Warwick, they burnt a magazine of five hundred barrels of flour, fome fine mills belonging to Colonel Carey, a large range of public rope-walks and ftorehouses, tan and bark houfes full of hides and bark, and great quantities of tobacco. A like destruction of ftores and goods was made in other parts of Virginia.

From the account already given of fome of the principal military operations of the present year in America, it appears, that though confiderable advantages had been gained by the royal troops, yet no event had taken place from which it could rationally be expected that the final termination of the war would be favourable to Great Britain. It was alfo a difadvantageous circumftance that there was a misunderstanding between Admiral Arbuthnot and Sir Henry Clinton, and a mutual disapprobation of each other's conduct. This was manifeft from their difpatches to government, and efpecially from thofe of General Clinton, whofe expreffions refpecting the conduct of the Admiral were by no means equivocal.

On the 16th of March 1781, a partial action happened off the Capes of Virginia, between the fleet under Admiral Arbuthnot, confting of feven

3

Chips

fhips of the line and one fifty-gun fhip, and a French fquadron, confifting of the fame number of fhips of the line and one forty-gun fhip. Some of the fhips in both fleets received confiderable damage in the action, and the lofs of the English was thirty killed, and seventy-three wounded; but no fhip was taken on either fide. The British fleet had, however, confiderably the advantage; as the French were obliged to retire, and were fuppofed to be prevented by this action from carrying troops up the Chesapeak, in order to attack General Arnold and impede the progrefs of Lord Cornwallis. But it was an unfortunate circumftance, that fome time before this engagement the Romulus, a ship of forty-four guns, was captured by the French off the Capes of Virginia.

Lord Cornwallis, after his victory over General Greene at Guildford, proceeded, as we have feen, to Wilmington, where he arrived. on the 7th of April. But before he reached that place, he published a proclamation, calling upon all loyal fubjects to ftand forth and take an active part in restoring good order and government; and declaring to all perfons who had engaged in the prefent rebellion against his majesty's authority, but who were now convinced of their error, and defirous of returning to their duty and allegiance, that if they would furrender themselves with their arms and ammunition at head quarters, or to the officer commanding in the diftrict contiguous to their refpective places of refidence, on or before the 20th of that month, they would be permitted to return to their homes upon giving a military parole; they would be protected in their perfons and properties from all forts of violence from the British troops and would be restored as foon as poffible to all the privi leges of legal and conftitutional government. But it does not appear that any confiderable number of the Americans were allured by these promifes to give any evidences of their attachment to the royal cause.

On the 20th of May, his Lordship arrived at Petersburgh in Virginia, where he joined a body of British troops that had been under the command of Major-general Philips; but the command of which, in confequence of the death of that officer, had devolved upon Brigadier general Arnold. Before this junction he had encountered confiderable. inconveniences from the difficulty of procuring provifions and forage; so that in a letter to Sir Henry Clinton, he informed him, that his cavalry wanted every thing, and his infantry every thing but fhoes. He added, that he had experienced the diftreffes of marching hundreds of miles in a country chiefly hoftile, without one active or useful friend, without intelligence, and without communication with any part of the country.

On the 26th of June, about fix miles from Williamsburgh, Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe, and three hundred and fifty of the queen's rangers,

with

with eighty mounted yagers, were attacked by a much fuperior body of the Americans; but whom they repulfed with great gallantry and with equal fuccefs, making four officers and twenty private men prifoners. The lofs of the Americans in this action is faid to have been upwards of one hundred and twenty, and that of the British troops not more than forty.

On the 6th of July an action happened near the Green Springs in Virginia, between a reconnoitring party of the Americans under General Wayne, amounting to about eight hundred, and a large part of the British army under Lord Cornwallis; in which the Americans had one hundred aud twenty-feven killed and wounded, and the lofs of the royal troops is fuppofed to have been confiderably greater. It was an

action in which no fmall degree of military skill and courage was exhibited by the Americans. In a variety of fkirmishes, the Marquis la Fayette very much diftinguished himself, and displayed the utmost ardour in the American cause.

In South Carolina, an action happened on the 9th of September near Eata Springs, between a large body of British troops under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Stuart and a much fuperior body of Americans, faid to amount to more than four thoufand, under the command of General Greene. It was an obftinate engagement, and lafted near two hours; but the Americans were defeated, and two of their fix-pounders fell into the hands of the English. The lofs, however, of the royal troops was very confiderable; amounting to more than four hundred killed and wounded, and upwards of two hundred miffing.

In the courfe of the fame month, General Arnold was fent on an expedition against New London, in Connecticut, where he destroyed a a great part of the shipping, and an immenfe quantity of naval ftores, European manufactures, and Eaft and Weft India commodities. The town itself was alfo burnt, which is faid to have been unavoidable on account of the explosions of great quantities of gunpowder which happened to be in the storehouses that were set on fire. A fort, of which it was thought neceffary to gain poffeffion in this expedition, was not taken without confiderable lofs. This, was fort Grifwold; which was defended by the Americans with great gallantry, and the affault was made by the English with equal bravery. The British troops entered the works with fixed bayonets, and were oppofed with great vigour by the garrifon with long fpears. After a most obftinate defence of near forty minutes, the affailants gained poffeffion of the fort, in which eighty-five Americans were found dead, and fixty wounded, most of them mortally. Of the British troops Major Montgomery was killed by a spear

in

in entering the American works; and one hundred and ninety-two men were also killed and wounded in this expediton.

be

Notwithstanding the fignal advantages that Lord Cornwallis had ob. tained over the Americans, his fituation in Virginia began by degrees to very critical: and the rather because he did not receive those reinforcements and fupplies from Sir Henry Clinton, of which he had formed expectations, and which he conceived to be neceffary to the fuccefs of his operations. Indeed, the commander in chief was prevented from fending thofe reinforcements to Lord Cornwallis which he otherwise might have done, by his fears refpecting New York, against which he entertained great apprehenfions that General Washington intended to make a very formidable attack. In fact, that able American general appears to have taken much pains, and to have employed great fineffe, in order to lead Sir Henry Clinton to entertain this imagination. Letters, expreffive of this intention, fell into the hands of Sir Henry, which were manifeftly written with a design that they fhould be intercepted, and only with a view to amufe and deceive the British general. The project was fuccefsful; and by a variety of judicious military manœuvres, in which he completely out-generalled the British commander, he increased his apprehenfions about New York, and prevented him from fending proper affiftance to Lord Cornwallis. Having for a confiderable time kept Sir Henry Clinton in perpetual alarm in New York, though with an army much inferior to the garrifon of that city, General Washington fuddenly quitted his camp at White Plains, croffed the Delaware, and marched towards Virginia, apparently with a defign to attack Lord Cornwallis. Sir Henry Clinton then received information that the Count de Graffe, with a large French fleet, was expected every moment in the Chesapeak, in order to co-operate with General Washington. He immediately endeavoured, both by land and water, to communicate this information to Lord Cornwallis; and alfo fent him affurances, that he would either reinforce him by every poffible means in his power, or make the best diverfion he could in his favour. In the mean time, Lord Cornwallis had taken poffeffion of the pofts of York Town and Gloucester in Virginia, where he fortified himself in the best manner he was able.

On the 28th of Auguft, Sir Samuel Hood, with a fquadron from the Weft Indies, joined the fquadron under the command of Admiral Graves before New York. It was then necessary, on account of the fituation of Lord Cornwallis, that they should immediately proceed to the Chesapeak; but fome time appears to have been needlefly loft, shough Admiral Hood was extremely anxious that no delay might be 4 D

made.