trenched on Long Island and the heights overlooking New York. The two British commanders opened negotiations with General Washington. They had been instructed to propose conditions of peace, but they had no authority to grant independence, and Washington refused any other terms.1

The whole British army then crossed the bay and landed on Long Island, south of Brooklyn. General Israel Putnam was in command of Brooklyn Heights, and General Sullivan, with a smaller force, held the roads leading to the Heights from the south. Earthworks extended from Wallabout Bay, the site of the present navy yard, to near the site of South Ferry.

On August 27, General Howe surrounded General Sullivan's force and won the battle of Long Island, capturing more than a thousand men, including Sullivan himself. Howe did not advance at once on the Heights, but set about laying siege. The position could not possibly be held by Putnam, especially in the presence of the fleet, and on the night of August 29, under cover of fog and rain, Washington withdrew the entire army, and slowly retreated up New York island, while Howe followed him.

40. Captain Nathan Hale. It was during his retreat that an event occurred which showed how much Americans were willing to venture and how bravely they could die for the cause in which they were engaged. A young Connecticut soldier, a Yale student, Captain Nathan Hale, had volun

1776.

teered to go within the British lines on Long Island Sept. 22, that he might learn the position of the enemy. On the way back he was arrested. No trial was allowed him. He was not shot as a soldier, but was hanged. "I only

1 When General Howe sent a communication to Washington he addressed it to "George Washington, Esq." The American officer refused to receive it, and sent it back. Then General Howe tried "George Washington, Esq., etc., etc.," as if these et ceteras would cover any possible title. But Washington still refused to receive a letter so addressed. The British officer was trying to avoid recognition of the American as an officer and general. Congress passed a resolution approving Washington's course.

1

regret," he said, as he was about to die, "that I have but one life to give for my country."

41. The Operations about New York and in New Jersey. - New York remained in the enemy's hands during the rest of the war. For two months after the battle of Long Island the two armies confronted each other, Washington aiming to hold his little forces together and to avoid a general engagement. A battle was fought at White

Plains, October 29,

Nov. 16,

1776.

in which Howe forced Washington back, but did not pursue his advantage. There were two forts on opposite banks of the Hudson, Fort Washington on the east bank, and Fort Lee on the west. A traitor in Fort Washington had carried plans of the fort to the enemy, and Howe suddenly attacked the place and captured it with its garrison of nearly three thousand men. This rendered Fort Lee useless, and it was abandoned.

The British now had control of the river, and Washington retreated slowly through New Jersey, followed by the enemy, until early in December he crossed the Delaware River near Trenton. Howe now thought the campaign over, and went into winter quarters. The succession of disasters, beginning with the battle of Long Island, greatly discouraged

the Americans. The army was very imperfectly clad and equipped. Many of the soldiers marched with bare, bleeding feet along the frozen roads. The people in New Jersey were in a panic, and in many cases accepted the pardon offered by Howe.

To add to Washington's troubles, General Charles Lee, the second in command, had repeatedly disregarded his orders to join him with his forces, and at last was surprised and taken prisoner. It was suspected then, and known certainly long afterward, that he

was a traitor to

the American cause. Yet he was exchanged for a British officer a few months after his capture and returned to his command. Battles of Trenton and Princeton. - Washington had made a series of masterly retreats. Now he revived the spirits of

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Dec. 26, 1776.

Jan. 3,

1777.

his countrymen by a brilliant advance. Suddenly, on Christmas night, he recrossed the Delaware, surprised the enemy in camp at Trenton, and took a thousand prisoners. This bold stroke annoyed and alarmed. the British. Cornwallis was sent to capture the American army, but Washington made a forced march, and defeated and scattered the British forces at Princeton. There were only eight days between the two battles. Washington then went into winter quarters at Morristown, a controlling position. Howe, instead of occupying all New Jersey, as he had supposed he should, found himself cooped up at Brunswick and Amboy. The whole country was cheered by these successes.

42. The Campaign in the North. When the spring of 1777 opened, the British formed a plan of campaign, by which, first,

1 Great blocks of ice were swirling along in the river. General John Glover, with his fisherman soldiers from Cape Ann, in Massachusetts, managed the ferrying across.

they should cut off New England from the rest of the Confederation, and second, they should take possession of Philadelphia, where Congress was sitting. The great highway between the two parts of the country was that narrow belt

which lies between the waters of Lake George and the navigable waters of the Hudson.

To hold this belt was to hold the gateway of the North. The plan of the British government was to send an army by Lake Champlain from Canada, and another up the Hudson from New York; the two were to meet, and a third division going up the St. Lawrence and by Lake Ontario was to move down the Mohawk Valley and join the other two at Albany. Thus all western New York was to be subdued to English rule.1

early in June. He had with him an army of eight thousand men, half of whom were Germans. He was accompanied by Indian allies, and he had forty pieces of artillery. His first movement was against Fort Ticonderoga. The Americans

1 There is a pleasant story of revolutionary scenes in the Mohawk Valley, called Paul and Persis.