During the summer and autumn horrible Indian massacres were committed by bands of ferocious Iroquois led by Tory1 captains at Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and Cherry Valley, New York; there were also towns attacked and burned to ashes along the coast; but no great battle was fought. In the West, Captain George Rogers Clark of Virginia by his resolute bravery drove the British out of Illinois and later from Indiana, thus securing that immense region to the United States. It began to look as though the British were losing their grip on America.

183. The British attack the South; Savannah taken ; Wayne's Victory; Paul Jones. The enemy now transferred the war to the South. Their plan was to begin at Georgia, and conquer northward. Then, in case the English government was forced to make peace, they hoped to be able to keep the southern territory - King George was prudent: "Half a loaf," said he to himself, “is better than none." The last of the year (December 29, 1778) an expedition attacked Savannah. The British had three men to our one; they took the city. The next year (1779) there was a lull. The British had got possession of the fort at Stony Point,2 in the Highlands of the Hudson. So long as they held it, our men could not cross the river at King's Ferry then the prin

cipal crossing-place between New England and the southern states. "Mad Anthony Wayne,"3 under Washington's direction, stormed and took the fort (July 15, 1779), at midnight, at the point of the bayonet never firing a shot during the battle. The capture of the fort stopped the British plans for ravaging Connecticut. They found that they must use all their forces to hold the Hudson.

The next autumn brought glorious news. Captain Paul Jones,* the first man to hoist an American flag over an American war

1 See Paragraph 165.

2 Stony Point: see Map, page 174.

3 General Anthony Wayne of Pennsylvania. He was called "Mad Anthony Wayne" on account of his daring.

4 Paul Jones was by birth a Scotchman. He entered the American service in 1775. His name was originally John Paul.

CHARLESTON TAKEN.

179

ship, had, with the help of Benjamin Franklin, fitted out three or four vessels in our defence. With three, one of them a half

184. The British take Charleston; Marion and Sumter's Mode of Fighting. — In the spring (1780) the war in the South was renewed with vigor. The British took Charleston (May 12, 1780), and Lord Cornwallis held the city. But Marion1 and Sumter, with their bands of resolute men armed with a few guns, and weapons made of old scythes and saw-blades, did good service in the American cause. When the British forces went out to conquer the country, the Carolina patriots attacked them as the mosquitoes of Alaska attack a bear. They buzz, sting, retreat; advance, buzz, sting; till at last the unwieldy brute, with eyes swollen so that he can no longer see, wanders around helpless, and dies of starvation.

185. Loss of Camden; Victory. at King's Mountain. - The next point at which the British aimed was Camden,2 South Carolina a great centre for roads, and hence of much importance from a military point of view. General Gates with General De Kalb endeavored to prevent the enemy from getting possession of the place. A battle was fought (August 16, 1780) in which Gates

2 Camden: see Map, page 181.

was compelled to retreat, losing artillery and baggage, and narrowly escaping capture himself.

But while Cornwallis was chuckling over his victory, the backwoodsmen of this part of the country, sharpshooters, every man, attacked a British force at King's Mountain (October 7, 1780), on the borders of North and South Carolina, and gave a decided check to the enemy's further advance.

186. Arnold's Treason; the Terrible Winter at Morristown. Meanwhile (September 22, 1780), the most startling and the saddest event of the Revolution occurred. Benedict Arnold, Washington's trusted friend, commander at West Point, had turned traitor. The discovery was made through the arrest of André,1 a British spy by whom Arnold sent papers giving a plan of the fort to the British commander at New York. André was tried and hanged, but Arnold escaped to the British army. Later, the traitor led an attack on Richmond, Virginia, and burnt it, and, last of all, one on New London in his native state of Connecticut.

Arnold died in London twenty years later. It is said that the last request he made was that the epaulettes and sword-knot which Washington had given him might be brought. "Let me die,” said he, "in my old American uniform, in which I fought my battles. God forgive me for ever having put on any other!"

The gloom of Arnold's awful act of treason seemed to be reflected in Washington's camp at Morristown in the terrible winter (17801781) which followed. It was worse even than that at Valley Forge; and the men, unpaid, half-fed, freezing, were driven to desperation and partial revolt.

187. Greene's Victories in the South; Cornwallis leaves the Carolinas. - But it was the gloom that precedes the dawn. General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island had been placed in command at the South. Next to Washington he was by far the

1 André (An'dray).