From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 184
The Americans lost two hundred and twenty killed and wounded; and the British two hundred and fifty, and
one hundred prisoners.
Major-General Lee was court-martialed for his conduct on the field of Monmouth, and was suspended from
all command for one year. Many believed that he was an arch-traitor, who deserved a halter, although the
evidence of it was not then conclusive. But eighty years thereafter (in 1858), papers were discovered in Lee's
handwriting, in which he communicated to Lord and Sir William Howe, while he was a prisoner in New
York, a plan for subjugating the Colonies. The only explanation of his conduct, after the fall of Fort
Washington, is found in his treasonable designs. He never returned to the service.
On the 13th of July Washington received news of the arrival of the French fleet, consisting of twelve ships of
the line and six frigates, and four thousand men for a land force. Immediate consultation with the commander,
Count D'Estaing, led him to cross the Hudson and establish his army at White Plains.
Rhode Island was in the possession of the British, and Washington proposed to recover it by the united action
of his army and the French fleet. After several weeks of rough campaigning, Washington was compelled to
abandon his purpose, because the eccentric D'Estaing resolved to take his fleet to Boston for rest and repairs.
For the winter of 1778-'79 he stationed his army in cantonments from Long Island Sound to the Delaware,
while his own headquarters were near Middlebrook. This arrangement was designed to protect the country and
watch the enemy.
The next year, 1779, the enemy carried on a predatory war, striking here and there with detachments of troops,
plundering, burning, and ravaging the neighborhood. Washington was fully occupied in repulsing the enemy
engaged in this sort of warfare.
As illustration of the cruel measures adopted by the British commander, an expedition was sent to
Connecticut; they captured the fort at New Haven, destroyed all the vessels in the harbor, with all the artillery,
ammunition, and stores, and plundered several private houses. They burned the town of Fairfield, destroying
ninety-seven dwelling houses, sixty-seven barns and stables, forty-eight store-houses, three places of worship,
two school-houses, a court-house, a jail, and all the vessels and public stores they could lay their hands on.
Norwalk was also burned in the same ruthless manner; and the depredations extended into Massachusetts,
injuring or destroying such towns as offered good harbors for privateers.
Exasperated by the reluctance of the Tories to flock to the British standard, and the numerous desertions of
English and Germans from his army, King George sent his emissaries to instigate the savages of the Mohawk
to plunder and butchery. The terrible massacres of Cherry Valley and Wyoming, in which hundreds of men,
women, and children were remorselessly slaughtered, and their habitations committed to the flames, followed.
The brutality of those scenes are known to the world, because they are matters of history.
Some of the ablest statesmen of England fearlessly denounced the king and his court for prosecuting a war
with such barbarity. Lord Chatham declared:
"Were I an American as I am an Englishman, I would never lay down my arms: never, never, NEVER!"
The king and his court maintained, however, that they were justified in resorting to any measures to subdue
American rebels.
Two remarkable expeditions which Washington organized that year were those which captured Stoney Point,
under General Wayne; and Paulus Hook, under Major Henry Lee. These grand achievements inspirited the
American army, and did much to convince the British that they were engaged in a fruitless attempt to reduce
the Colonies to their domination.