King George (14 page)
Authors: Steve Sheinkin
B
ack at West Point, Arnold was eating breakfast at his headquarters when a messenger dashed in and handed over an urgent note. Arnold tore it open and read: a British spy was just captured with maps of West Point in his boot!
ack at West Point, Arnold was eating breakfast at his headquarters when a messenger dashed in and handed over an urgent note. Arnold tore it open and read: a British spy was just captured with maps of West Point in his boot!
Arnold leapt up from the table, ran upstairs as fast as his bad leg would carry him, and told Peggy the terrible news (she was in bed with their newborn son, Edward). Then he hobbled outside, raced his horse down to the river, hopped on a boat, and started rowing south.
That was the last time anyone saw Benedict Arnold in an American uniform.
At that very moment, George Washington and his staff were approaching Arnold's headquarters. The men were all looking forward to seeing the famously beautiful Peggy. “You young men are all in love with Mrs. Arnold,” Washington teased his officers.
But as the boat approached Arnold's house, it started to seem like something wasn't right. Arnold should have fired a few cannons as a salute to the commander in chief. But the cannons were silent. “The impropriety [incorrectness] of his conduct when he knew I was to be there struck me very forcibly,” Washington later said. “But I had not the least idea of the real cause.”
Just minutes later, he learned the real cause. As Washington was sitting down to lunch in Arnold's house, another messenger ran in and handed over the papers found in John André's boot. They were maps and plans for attacking West Pointâall in Benedict Arnold's handwriting!
Washington sat quietly for a moment, holding the papers in shaking hands. He finally looked up at General Henry Knox and said, “Arnold has betrayed me. Whom can we trust now?”
Washington soon shook off the shock and went to work. He got the soldiers at West Point ready for a British attack (though none came). Then he put John André on trial, found him guilty of being a spy, and hanged him. Washington would much rather have hanged Arnold, but Arnold was beyond his reach, safe in British headquarters in New York City.
Peggy, meanwhile, managed to save her skin with a brilliant bit of acting. When Washington came to her room, Peggy threw a hysterical fit, shouting over and over, “That is not General Washington! That is the man who is going to kill my child!” She was so shocked by her husband's treason, it seemed, that she had lost her senses! Washington was convinced that she had nothing to do with the plot.
Peggy later joined her husband in New York.
O
nce again, Washington had just barely escaped disaster. And while that was something to be grateful for, the entire country was getting sick and tired of this war. The American Revolution entered its seventh year in 1781, with no end in sight. The government didn't even have enough money left to pay its soldiers.
nce again, Washington had just barely escaped disaster. And while that was something to be grateful for, the entire country was getting sick and tired of this war. The American Revolution entered its seventh year in 1781, with no end in sight. The government didn't even have enough money left to pay its soldiers.
One day in February, Washington was walking up the stairs at his headquarters. Halfway up the staircase, he met his twenty-year-old assistant, Alexander Hamilton, who was coming down. Washington told Hamilton he needed help right away with some important papers.
“I answered that I would wait on him immediately,” Hamilton later said.
Washington went to his office and sat down. He waited. No Hamilton. Washington stepped out into the hall and started pacing back and forth above the staircase. His impatience turned to anger, and his anger bubbled toward the boiling point. Finally, he spotted Hamilton at the bottom of the stairs.
Washington:
“Colonel Hamilton, you have kept me waiting at the head of the stairs these ten minutes.
“Colonel Hamilton, you have kept me waiting at the head of the stairs these ten minutes.
I must tell you, sir, you treat me with disrespect.”
Hamilton:
“I am not conscious of it, sir, but since you thought it necessary to tell me so, we part!”
“I am not conscious of it, sir, but since you thought it necessary to tell me so, we part!”
And the young man turned and walked away.
Less than an hour later, Washington sent an apology to Hamilton, blaming his outburst on “a moment of passion.” Hamilton accepted the apology and came back to work.
But it was clear that the never-ending stress was starting to affect George Washington. And everyone else, too. Joseph Plumb Martin spoke for the entire United States when he said, “I saw no likelihood that the war would ever end.”
The year 1781 started out badly for George Washington. In early spring, a British warship sailed up the Potomac River in Virginia and docked at Mount Vernon, Washington's beloved home and plantation. Lund Washington, who was running the plantation while his cousin George was away at war, hurried down to the dock to see what was going on.
W
hen Lund Washington got down to the river, he saw that seventeen slaves had already seized the chance to escape from Mount Vernon by hopping onto the British ship. Then Lund heard the British sailors calling out for service. Bring us food and drink, they demanded, or we'll burn the plantation!
hen Lund Washington got down to the river, he saw that seventeen slaves had already seized the chance to escape from Mount Vernon by hopping onto the British ship. Then Lund heard the British sailors calling out for service. Bring us food and drink, they demanded, or we'll burn the plantation!
Lund did as he was told.
When Washington heard the news, he didn't seem too upset that the slaves had run away. But he was horribly ashamed that his own farm had provided supplies to the invading enemy. As he told Lund,“That which gives me most concern, is that you should go on board the enemy's vessels, and furnish them with refreshments. It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard, that in consequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burnt my house, and laid the plantation in ruins.”
A
nd speaking of Washington's troubles, here was his biggest one: it was looking like 1781 was going to be another wasted yearâyet another year without a major attack on the British.
nd speaking of Washington's troubles, here was his biggest one: it was looking like 1781 was going to be another wasted yearâyet another year without a major attack on the British.
At this time, Washington and his army were camped just north of New York City. So was a French army of about 4,000 men, under the command of a general known to his friends as the Count de Rochambeau. Washington had been hoping that this year, finally, the Americans and French would launch a serious attack on the British in New York City. So Washington and Rochambeau spent most of July looking through telescopes, studying the British forts in New York City. They were hoping to find a weak spot to attack. There didn't seem to be a weak spot, though.
Washington was used to disappointments, but this one really got him down. How could he ever win this war? He was having a hard enough time just holding his army together.
And that's when it happenedâWashington suddenly saw a way to win the American Revolution. And he could do it right now! He just had to race his army 450 miles south to a place called Yorktown, Virginia.
Why the race to Yorktown? That question really needs a ninepart answer.
T
he first thing we have to do is to take a look at things from King George's point of view.
he first thing we have to do is to take a look at things from King George's point of view.
Mighty Great Britain had been fighting these pesky Americans since 1775, and all they had to show for it was control of New York City. The war was costing Britain a fortuneâso much that the government had to raise taxes.
King George was feeling the heat. More and more people in Britain were sick of war. They wanted to bring the army home and forget the whole thing. But you know Georgeâhe was still absolutely committed to victory over the Americans. So starting in 1779, the king decided to try a new strategy: the British army would destroy the Revolution by capturing the southern states. The famously stubborn King George honestly believed that most people in the South were still loyal to him.
A
t first, it looked like Britain's “southern strategy” was actually going to work. The British quickly captured big chunks of Georgia and South Carolina.
t first, it looked like Britain's “southern strategy” was actually going to work. The British quickly captured big chunks of Georgia and South Carolina.
Then Congress put Horatio Gates (the Saratoga hero) in charge of the American army in the South. Gates showed up in camp in July 1780 and saw that his soldiers were starving and exhausted. So what did he decide to do? He ordered them to march right toward the British!
Hungry enough to eat anything, the men spotted unripe green peaches growing along the road. They feastedâand quickly paid the price. The meal had “painful effects,” said Colonel Otho Williams. That was a polite way of putting it. Let's just say the peaches didn't stay in those hungry bellies for very long.
Gates pushed his weakened soldiers on. And on August 16, they ran into the British general Charles Cornwallis and his army at Camden, South Carolina. While Cornwallis was crushing the Americans, General Gates panicked and fled from the battlefield, leaving his entire army behind. He was next seen 180 miles away.
“Was there ever an instance of a general running away, as Gates has done, from his whole army?” wondered Alexander Hamilton, Washington's young assistant.
So far, so good,
thought King George.
thought King George.
I
f only the king knew how badly some of his soldiers were behaving in the South.
f only the king knew how badly some of his soldiers were behaving in the South.
One morning in 1780 a frightened girl came running up to Eliza Wilkinson's South Carolina home. “O! The King's people are coming!” shouted the girl. “It must be them, for they are all in red!”
Moments later Eliza saw a group of British soldiers riding up to her house. “Where're these women rebels?” they cried, waving swords and pistols.
The soldiers jumped off their horses, ran into the house, and started stealing stuffâjewelry, clothes, pretty much anything that wasn't nailed down. Then one of the soldiers saw the silver buckles on Eliza's shoes. “âI want them buckles' said he, and immediately knelt at my feet to take them out, which, while he was busy about, a brother villain, whose enormous mouth extended from ear to ear, bawled out, âShares there! I say, shares!' So they divided my buckles between them.”
A few minutes later, it was all over. Eliza watched the British soldiers ride off, their shirts bulging with loot.
This kind of thing was happening a lot. And as you can imagine, the British bandits were not exactly winning new friends for King George in the South. In fact, more and more southern Patriots began rising up against the invaders.
T
hat brings us to a South Carolina Patriot named Francis
hat brings us to a South Carolina Patriot named Francis
Marion. Marion started leading small bands of militia members on quick, surprise strikes against British soldiers. Marion would march through the night, attack sleepy British soldiers at dawn, then disappear into the forests and swamps, using paths and hiding places the British could never find. “Marion never encamped over two nights in one place,” said Tarleton Brown, one of Marion's men.
The British hated Marion, but they couldn't help respecting his creative and daring style. They even gave him a nickname: the Swamp Fox.
Even Continental army soldiers hardly ever got a good look at the Swamp Fox. When Colonel Otho Williams met Marion and his swamp team, he was surprised to see a bunch of hungry-looking men in rags. “Their number did not exceed twenty men and boys,” said Williams, “some white, some black, and all mounted [on horses], but most of them miserably equipped.”
Miserably equipped, but very effective. With folks like the Swamp Fox around, the British army was never able to gain control of the South.
G
eneral Nathaniel Greene took command of the American army in the South at the end of 1780. And like the Swamp Fox, Greene knew how to use geography to his advantage. His strategy was simple: “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”
eneral Nathaniel Greene took command of the American army in the South at the end of 1780. And like the Swamp Fox, Greene knew how to use geography to his advantage. His strategy was simple: “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”
Doesn't exactly sound like a formula for success, does it?
Actually, it was brilliant. Greene knew his small army wasn't strong enough to actually beat the British. So instead, he decided to lead the enemy on a long and tiring chase all over the vast spaces of North and South Carolina. Once in a while, he'd turn and fight a small battle. And he didn't mind losing these fights, because he knew he was wearing the British down.
Don't get the idea that Greene's army was having a great time, though. Facing the usual Continental army food shortages, the soldiers ate frogs, alligators, or anything else they could catch and cook. And with all the marching and camping, the men wore completely through their clothing by summer's end. “At the battle of Eutaw Springs,” said General Greene, “hundreds of my men were naked as they were born.”
Well, at least it was warm.
O
ver in the British camp, Greene's strategy was having its intended affect.
ver in the British camp, Greene's strategy was having its intended affect.
At first, General Charles Cornwallis was determined to catch up to Greene. He ordered his men to toss away all their extra suppliesâtents, clothing, even barrels of rum. He hoped this would let his army
march faster (and it did, though the soldiers were very angry about the wasted rum).
march faster (and it did, though the soldiers were very angry about the wasted rum).
But Greene always managed to stay a step ahead of Cornwallis. And by the summer of 1781, Cornwallis was frustrated, angry, and exhausted. He reported, “With a third of my army sick and wounded, the remainder without shoes and worn down with fatigue, I thought it was time to look for some place of rest.”
So Cornwallis decided to push his army north. Maybe, he hoped, the British would have better luck in Virginia.
S
oon after the British entered Virginia, a twenty-one-year-old named James Armistead decided to help kick them out. But first he had to get permission from his ownerâArmistead was held as a slave on a farm near Williamsburg. The owner agreed, and Armistead marched to the American camp.
oon after the British entered Virginia, a twenty-one-year-old named James Armistead decided to help kick them out. But first he had to get permission from his ownerâArmistead was held as a slave on a farm near Williamsburg. The owner agreed, and Armistead marched to the American camp.
Armistead met with a young French general, the Marquis de Lafayette (only twenty-three himself). Lafayette explained that what the army really needed was more information about the location and movements of Cornwallis's army. Would Armistead be willing to take a massive risk to get that information?
A few days later, Armistead walked into General Cornwallis's camp and told British soldiers he was an escaped slave looking to earn some cash. The British put him to work. This young guy proved to be very useful to the British. His detailed knowledge of the local geography helped the soldiers find their way around. All the while, James Armistead was sending reports back to Lafayette in the American camp.
Then Armistead took an even bigger risk. He gained the trust of
General Cornwallis and took the job of Cornwallis's personal waiter! This was the perfect position for a spy. Serving food and walking around the dinner table, Armistead was able to see and hear everything that went on in Cornwallis's own tent.
General Cornwallis and took the job of Cornwallis's personal waiter! This was the perfect position for a spy. Serving food and walking around the dinner table, Armistead was able to see and hear everything that went on in Cornwallis's own tent.
Armistead always had a hard time getting a close look at official maps and plans because Cornwallis was so careful with his papers. As Lafayette explained: “His Lordship Cornwallis is so shy of his papers that my honest friend says he cannot get at them.”
Armistead kept working, though, and he kept feeding badly needed information to Lafayette. This helped the Americans keep a close watch on Cornwallis as he marched his army around Virginia.
But exactly where was Cornwallis headed?
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