CHAPTER XXI.

THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR.

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to the time of the Declaration of Independence,

almost the whole fighting had been about Boston, although the British had made an unsuccessful attack on Charleston, S.C., and the Americans had tried, with equal ill-success, to overrun Canada, and take Quebec. But Washington foresaw that an attempt would be soon made by the royal generals to occupy New York so he sent General Lee from Cambridge to defend it; and he himself soon followed, after the evacuation of Boston. Sir William Howe also took thither the British soldiers who had been withdrawn from Boston; and his brother, Admiral Lord Howe, went thither with re-enforcements to meet him; and General Clinton came from the South with additional troops. So there were some twenty-four thousand British and Hessian troops to be met, and only about half that number of Americans yet enlisted.

Lord Howe had orders from King George to offer terms of peace; but he did not know exactly to whom to offer them. First he wrote a letter to the royal governors: but there were no royal governors left; and the letter came into Washington's hands, and proved to contain nothing satisfactory. Then Lord Howe wrote

a letter addressed to "George Washington, Esq.;" and his brother wrote another addressed to "George Washington, &c." but Washington declined to receive any that were not addressed to him in his true character as general commanding the United States army. So Lord Howe wrote no more letters, but prepared to fight. The American troops were at first defeated. They lost several battles; and Washington with his main army had to leave New York to the British troops, and to retreat gradually through New Jersey, followed by Lord Cornwallis, who reached one side of the Delaware River just as Washington and his army had landed on the other. This retreat naturally encouraged the British very much, and discouraged the Americans. Washington had hardly three thousand men in Pennsylvania; and many of these had neither shoes nor decent clothing.

This made it particularly desirable, as Washington thought, that he should strike some daring blow. He knew that there was a body of about a thousand Hessian troops at Trenton. These Hessians were hired troops from the Province of Hesse-Cassel in Germany; and Washington knew the ways of the Germans. He was quite sure that on Christmas Day (1776), they would have a great celebration, and would be particularly off their guard. So he waited until the evening of that day, crossed the Delaware, and marched all night through storm and sleet, taking them by surprise at daylight. Some loyalist had written a note to the German commander, warning him; but he had paid no attention to it. He was killed in the fight, while all his soldiers were taken prisoners.

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Soon after this, Washington gained a victory at Princeton, through a surprise. These successes couraged the Americans very much; and, though they had now nearly fifty thousand soldiers against them, they all wished to persevere. Additional troops were raised; but Washington soon had to abandon Phila

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE.

delphia, and spent a gloomy and suffering winter with his army at Valley Forge.

If we could see in imagination the camp of Washington at Valley Forge, we should understand better the sacrifice made to secure our liberty. The American army had diminished one-half, through desertion and illness. From forty-five thousand men, it had shrunk to twenty thousand. At Valley Forge the soldiers slept without blankets; and many had to sit up all

night by their fires. At one time there were more than a thousand without shoes; and you might track them in the snow by their bleeding feet. Even the sick often had to lie on the ground for want of straw. They had scarcely any horses; and the soldiers made little carts to draw their wood and provisions to their huts. Officers on parade sometimes wore old blankets or faded bedquilts to cover them. The troops were hardly ever paid; and the money in which they were paid had almost lost its value. Food was scarce; and the gloomy saying was, "No bread, no soldier." There were foreign officers in the camp, who had come to aid the cause of liberty, -La Fayette, De Kalb, Kosciuszko, Pulaski, Steuben. They were men accustomed to courts and luxury; and the buildings where they lived were no gayer than a dungeon," La Fayette said. During all this hard time Washington behaved most nobly. He was obliged to conceal, as far as possible, the wretched condition and small numbers of his army; and at the same time he was constantly censured by members of Congress, and even by other generals, for not making these poor starved soldiers into "an irresistible body of men." Meanwhile the British army lived in comfort in Philadelphia, and their officers enjoyed every luxury.

General Burgoyne, with a part of the British army, invaded the New England States, through Canada, early in 1777, issuing a proclamation, inviting the Indians to join him. He passed along Lake Champlain, took Fort Ticonderoga, and afterwards sent a large detachment to destroy military stores at Bennington. There it was attacked by General Stark, with a

militia force from Vermont and New Hampshire. Stark had been at Bunker Hill, and had satisfied himself that the American troops could be trusted to attack as well as to resist. He is said to have called out to his men, before the battle, "There are the red-coats! Before night we must conquer them, or Molly Stark is a widow." The Americans carried the day; and when, the next day, another force of Hessians came up, Stark attacked and defeated them also. This success helped to encourage the Americans; and a still greater event followed. Burgoyne, with his whole army, encamped at Saratoga, and was followed thither by General Gates with an American force. Two battles were fought at Stillwater, without decided results; but after this the British army retreated. They were, however, hemmed in by the army of General Gates. And on Oct 17, 1777, General Burgoyne, with his whole army of more than five thousand men, surrendered as prisoners to the Americans, at Saratoga.

This was an event of the greatest possible importance to the Americans. It encouraged the suffering army of Washington at Valley Forge; and it startled the friends of America in Europe, who had not hoped for any success so great. This was especially the case in France, where much sympathy had already been felt for America, so that young Frenchmen had volunteered in our army; and yet the French Government had steadily refused to make a treaty with the American colonies. But, after the surrender of Burgoyne, Dr. Franklin and the other commissioners succeeded in obtaining not only a treaty, but many promises of substantial aid, from France. This was Feb. 6, 1778. This treaty