DEFEAT OF GENERAL LINCOLN.

223

of the enemy, and confining them to the low country near the ocean. The detachment, consisting of 1,500 North Carolina militia, and a few regular troops, under General Ash, crossed the Savannah, and took a position on Briar Creek; but he was surprised by Lieutenant-Colonel Prevost, who made a circuitous march of 50 miles, and came upon his rear with 900 veterans. The militia were thrown into confusion at once, and fled at the first fire; 150 of the Americans were killed, 162 taken, some were drowned in attempting to cross the Savannah, and only 450 escaped to the camp. This event cost General Lincoln one-fourth of his army, and opened a communication between the British camp at Savannah, and the Indian and royalist friends of the British in North and South Carolina.

In this disastrous state of affairs, the legislature of South Carolina invested their governor, Mr. John Rutledge, and his council, with an almost absolute authority, by virtue of which a considerable force of militia was embodied and stationed near the centre of the state, to act as necessity might require. Lincoln now determined to carry the war into the enemy's quarters; and with the main army, he crossed the Savannah, near Augusta, and marched towards the capital of Georgia. Prevost instantly took advantage of this movement, to invade South Carolina, at the head of 2,400 men, and compelling General Moultrie, who was charged with the defence of Charleston, to retire, he pushed forward towards that city.

At this time his superiority was so decisive, and his prospects so bright, that Moultrie's troops began to desert in great numbers, and with real or affected zeal embraced the royal cause. On his appearance before Charleston, the garrison of that place, consisting of 3,300 men, sent commissioners to propose a neutrality on their part during the remainder of the This advantageous proposal he was impolitic enough to decline, and made preparations to attack the town, which was tolerably well fortified.

war.

Whilst he had been wasting time in negotiations, General Lincoln had been hastening from Georgia to the relief of the place; and on his approach, Prevost, fearing to be exposed to two fires, withdrew his forces across Ashley river, and encamped on some small islands bordering on the sea-coast. Here, on the 20th of June, he was attacked by General Lincoln, with about 1,200 men, but succeeded in giving him a

224

SIEGE OF SAVANNAH.

repulse with the loss of 150 men, in consequence of the failure of a part of the American general's combinations.

Notwithstanding this success, General Prevost did not think it advisable to maintain his position, but retreated to Port Royal, and thence to Savannah.

The Americans, under the command of Lincoln, soon afterwards retired to Sheldon, a healthy situation in the vicinity of Beaufort, about half way between Charleston and Savannah. Both armies now remained in their respective encampments in a state of tranquillity until the beginning of September, when the arrival of a French fleet on the coast roused the whole country to immediate activity.

Count d'Estaing had proceeded, towards the close of the preceding year, from Boston to the West Indies, whence, after capturing St. Vincents and Grenada, he had returned to the assistance of the Americans. At the sight of this armament, which consisted of 20 sail of the line and 13 frigates, the republicans exulted in the sanguine hope of capturing their enemies, or of expelling them from the country. The militia poured in from the surrounding region in great numbers, and uniting with the regular force, under General Lincoln, marched for the vicinity of Savannah.

Before their arrival D'Estaing had summoned the town to surrender, and had granted General Prevost a suspension of hostilities for 24 hours, for the purpose of settling the terms of a capitulation. But during this interval a reinforcement of 700 men had forced their way from Beaufort for his relief. Encouraged by this seasonable aid, Prevost determined to hold out to the last extremity.

The allied forces, therefore, commenced the siege of Savannah in form. On the 4th of October, the besiegers opened with 9 mortars, and 37 pieces of cannon, from the land side, and 15 from the water. On a report from the French engineers, that a considerable time would be consumed in conducting the siege by regular approaches, D'Estaing, who was apprehensive of injury to his fleet from hurricanes at that season of the year, determined on an assault.

In conjunction with Lincoln, he led his troops to the attack with great gallantry; but a heavy and well directed fire from the batteries, and a cross fire from the British gallies, threw their front columns into confusion. Two standards were planted on the enemy's batteries, but after 55 minutes of hard fighting it was found necessary to order a retreat. Count

ACHIEVEMENTS OF PAUL JONES.

225

d'Estaing and Count Pulaski were both wounded; the former slightly, the latter mortally. Six hundred and thirty-seven of the French, and upwards of 200 of the continentals and militia, were killed or wounded. The damage sustained by the British was trifling. Immediately after this unsuccessful assault, the militia retired to their homes; Count d'Estaing reembarked his troops and artillery and sailed from Savannah; and General Lincoln, re-crossing the Savannah river, returned to South Carolina.

The visit of the French fleet to the coast of America, although unsuccessful in its chief object, was not altogether useless to the United States. It disconcerted the measures of the British, and caused a considerable waste of time in digesting their plans of operation. It also occasioned the evacuation of Rhode Island, which, however, was of little importance to the cause, as the 6,000 men who were stationed there for two years and eight months, were thus effectually kept out of active service.

The paper money system adopted by the continental congress, had now begun to produce its legitimate effects of ruin. and distress. The bills were depreciated to about one-thirtieth of their nominal value. The pay of the officers and soldiers was insufficient to procure them clothing. Congress finding its funds and credit exhausted, made a requisition on the several states for provisions and forage. Private capitalists, and some of the patriotic leaders, made loans to the government, and loans were solicited in Europe. Notwithstanding these expedients, the army was wretchedly supplied; and it required all the patriotic exertions of their officers to restrain the men from desertion or open revolt. The example of their leaders, in cheerfully submitting to severe hardships, and making sport of privations which were anything but light, had its effect in retaining the troops in the service, and making them bear and do their utmost for the cause of their country.

This year was signalised by the most celebrated of the achievements of Paul Jones. In August he sailed from France in the Bon Homme Richard, with six other vessels, the whole squadron being under his command. Having cruised successfully off the coast of Ireland for some time, he sailed with the Pallas, of 32 guns, and the Vengeance, of 16 guns, to the coast of Scotland, captured several armed vessels in sight of the port of Leith, and after threatening to lay the town under contribution, which threat he was only prevented from exe

226

CAPTURE OF THE SERAPIS.

cuting by a violent gale of wind coming on, he again put

to sea.

A few days after this he fought his famous battle with the British frigate Serapis. On the 23rd of September, 1779, at seven o'clock in the evening, the encounter took place off Flamborough-head, on the coast of England, and the moon shining brightly at the time, the action was witnessed by thousands of spectators assembled on the shore. The Serapis was a new ship, with 44 guns, and a select crew. In every respect she was far superior to the Bon Homme Richard. The action commenced with a broadside from the Serapis, and raged with unremitting fury, till the bowsprit of the British vessel coming over the poop of the Bon Homme Richard by her mizen mast, Jones himself seized the ropes that hung from the bowsprit, and made them fast to his own ship. The Serapis now swung round, so as to lie alongside the American vessel, with the stern of one close to the bow of the other. The battle was then renewed with increasing fury, and lasted till half-past ten o'clock, when the enemy's mainmast going by the board, he struck his colours.

The details of the battle surpass anything in the records of naval warfare for determined bravery and perseverance. The Bon Homme Richard was actually in a sinking state when the battle ended; and there was hardly time allowed to take out the wounded men, before she went down.

When the Serapis first hove in sight, she, in company with the Countess of Scarborough, a ship of 20 guns, was convoying a large fleet of merchantmen; and while the action with the Bon Homme Richard was going on, the Pallas engaged and captured the Countess of Scarborough.

Jones was honoured with the most unlimited confidence by congress, and received many marks of favour from that body, as well as from the king of France.

The campaign of 1779 was productive of no decisive events. The Americans seem to have counted too much on the aid of their new allies, and to have exerted themselves but feebly in endeavouring to rid the country of its enemies; and yet they were bitterly disappointed, when at the end of the season it was found that little or nothing had been accomplished towards bringing the war to a close. The army was dispirited by dẹfeat; and many of the citizens began to despair of the fortunes of the country. But the hardier spirits, the leaders in council and in the field, took heart when they recollected that the

"

enemy had effected little except the overrunning and plundering an extensive tract of territory; and that after all their battles and marauding expeditions, they had been compelled to return to as narrow encampments as they had occupied before the campaign commenced.

CHAPTER XXX.

CAMPAIGN OF 1780.

RECENT events in the southern country had convinced Sir Henry Clinton of the weakness of that portion of the Union, and had pointed it out as the proper theatre of war. Leaving, therefore, the command of the royal army in New York, to General Kniphausen, on the 26th of December, 1779, he sailed from that city with a considerable force, and after a stormy passage, on the 11th of the ensuing month he arrived at Tybee in Georgia, at the mouth of the Savannah river. Hence he proceeded to Ashley river, and encamped opposite to Charleston.

On his arrival, the assembly of the state of South Carolina broke up its sitting, after having once more delegated a dictatorial authority to Governor Rutledge, who immediately issued his orders for the assembling of the militia. These orders were not promptly obeyed. The disasters of the last campaign had damped the ardour of patriotism, and each man seemed to look to his neighbours for those exertions which might have been justly expected from himself.

On reconnoitering the works of Charleston, however, Sir Henry Clinton did not deem it expedient to attack them till he had received reinforcements from New York and Savanrah. These soon arrived, and he proceeded to open the siege in form.

Charleston is situated on a tongue of land, bounded on the west by Ashley, and on the east by Cooper river. The approach to Ashley river was defended by Fort Moultrie, erected on Sullivan's Island; and the passage up Cooper river was impeded by a number of vessels sunk in the channel, opposite the town. On the land side, the place was defended by a citadel and strong lines, extending from river to river.