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George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, The American revolution. (search)
shall see their king, who had dashing courage, though not perseverance, now and then show himself as the boldest champion of the liberty of the seas. Denmark, the remaining northern kingdom, was itself a colonial power, possessing small West India islands, and a foothold in the East. Its king, as Duke of Holstein, had a voice in the German Diet at Ratisbon. Its people were of a noble race; it is the land which, first of European states, forbade the slavetrade, and which, before the end of s dem Leben des koniglich danischen Staatsministers, Andreas Petrus Grafen von Bernstorf, von C. M. D. von Eggers, 93. Complying with the suggestion of the English court, Danish subjects were forbidden to send, Chap. I.} 1778. even to Danish West India islands, munitions of war, lest they should find their way to the United States. Danish order of 4 Oct., 1775. The Danish and Norwegian ports were closed against prizes taken by American privateers. Yet, from its commercial interests, Denma
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 5: (search)
exercise of individual liberty, though they hindered the efficiency of government, made them unconquerable. The British soldier had nothing before him but to be transferred from one of the many provinces of Britain to another, perhaps to the West Indies, perhaps to India: he did what he was Chap. V.} 1778. bound to do with the skill of a veteran; but he had no ennobling motive, no prospect of a home, and no living patriotism. The American looked beyond danger to the enjoyment of freedom ands continuance. Should the Americans ratify the French alliance, Lord Amherst, who was the guide of the ministry in the conduct of the war, recommended the evacuation of New York and Rhode Island and the employment of the troops against the French West Indies. But the radical change of opinion was shown most clearly by the votes of parliament. In February, 1774, the house of commons, in a moment of unrestrained passion; adopted measures for enforcing the traditional absolutism of parliament
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 7: (search)
r better calculated to make the people feel their distresses. The king believed in the hourly declension of the rebellion, and that the colonies must soon sue to the mother country for pardon. But Clinton well understood Chap. VII.} 1778. the power of the insurgents and the insufficiency of his own resources; and, obeying peremptory instructions, before the end of the year he most reluctantly detached three thousand men for the conquest of Georgia, and ten regiments for service in the West Indies. His supplies of meat and bread, for which he depended on Europe, were precarious. His military chest was empty; and the inhabitants of New York, mindful of the hour when the city would be given up, were unwilling to lend him their specie. I do not complain, so he wrote in December to Dec. the secretary of state; but, my lord, do not let any thing be expected of one circumstanced as I am. The people of America, notwithstanding their want of efficient government, set no narrow bound
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 10: (search)
disorders; but it is young and strong, and will struggle by the vigor of internal healing principles of life against those evils, and surmount them. Its strength will grow with its years, and it will establish its constitution. Whether the West Indies are naturally parts of this North American communion, is a question of curious speculation, but of no doubt as to the fact. The European maritime powers may by force, perhaps for an age longer, preserve the dominion of these islands. The whoy. The wisdom and not the man is attended to. In this wilderness of woods the settlers move but as nature calls forth their activity. They try experiments, and the advantages of their discoveries are their own. They supply the islands of the West Indies, and even Europe itself. The inhabitants, where nothing particular directs their course, are all land-workers. One sees them laboring after the plough, or with the spade and hoe, as though they had not an idea beyond the ground they dwell up
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 13: (search)
he British officers and soldiers in America for plunder! In this they were encouraged by the cordial ap- Chap. XIII.} 1779. probation of the king and his ministers. The instructions from Germain authorized the confiscation and sale not only of negroes employed in the American army, but of those who voluntarily followed the British troops and took sanctuary under British jurisdiction. Compare Germain to Governor Wright, 19 Jan., 1780. Many of them were shipped to the markets of the West Indies. Before the end of three months after the capture of Savannah, all the property, real and personal, of the rebels in Georgia, was disposed of. Tonyn to Under-secretary Knox, 29 March, 1779. For further gains, Indians were encouraged to catch slaves wherever they could find them, and bring them in. All families in South Carolina were subjected to the visits of successive sets of banditti, who received commissions to act as volunteers with no pay or emolument but that derived from rap
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 14: (search)
by English and Hessian commissaries of captures, amounted to about three hundred thousand pounds sterling, so that the dividend of a major-general exceeded four thousand guineas. There was no restraint on private Chap. XIV.} 1780. May. rapine; the silver plate of the planters was carried off; all negroes that had belonged to rebels were seized, even though they had themselves sought an asylum within the British lines; and at one embarkation two thousand were shipped to a market in the West Indies. British officers thought more of amassing fortunes than of reuniting the empire. The patriots were not allowed to appoint attorneys to manage or to sell their estates. A sentence of confiscation hung over the whole land, and British protection was granted only in return for the unconditional promise of loyalty. For six weeks all opposition ceased in South Carolina. One expedition was sent by Clinton up the Savannah to encourage the loyal and reduce the disaffected in the neighborho
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 15: (search)
ugely, at that time a major of militia in the British service and an aspirant for higher promotion, he on the first of July addressed the following order: July 1. If any person shall meet a soldier straggling, and shall not secure him or spread an alarm for that purpose; or if any person shall shelter or guide or furnish assistance to soldiers straggling, the persons so offending may assure themselves of rigorous punishment, either by whipping, imprisonment, or being sent to serve in the West Indies. I will give the inhabitants ten guineas for the head of any deserter belonging to the volunteers of Ireland, and five guineas only if they bring him in alive. The genuineness of the letter is unquestioned. The chain of posts for holding South Carolina consisted of Georgetown, Charleston, Beaufort, and Savannah on the sea; Augusta, Ninety-Six, and Camden in the interior. Of these Camden was the most im- Chap. XV.} 1780. July. portant, for it was the key between the north and so
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 18: (search)
mutinous and the incompetent, put in command of the expedition that was to relieve Gibraltar and rule the seas of the West Indies. One of the king's younger sons served on board his fleet as midshipman. He took his squadron to sea on the twenty-niictualled the garrison of Gibraltar, and relieved Minorca, on the thirteenth Feb. 13. of February he set sail for the West Indies. At St. Lucie he received letters from his wife, saying: Everybody is beyond measure delighted as well as astonished n-chief. Time pressed on. Besides; Sir George Rodney had only looked in upon New York, and would soon return to the West Indies. On the evening of the eighteenth, Arnold, giving information that Washing- Chap. XVIII.} 1780. Sept. 18. ton on th Chap. XVIII.} 1780. and eventually their names were placed on the pension list. Sir George Rodney returned to the West Indies, and, so far as related to himself, let the unsuccessful conspiracy sink into oblivion. For Clinton, the cup of humil
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 20: (search)
replied: This 7. country is by no means prepared for war. It is the fashion still to suppose a war against England impossible. The executive part of the government has been averse to it all along. As to the Dutch settlements in the East and West Indies, their own avowal proves them in a deplorable state; but St. Eustatius, above all St. Eustatius, is the golden mine of the moment. Yorke to Stormont, 7 Nov., 1780. This letter of Yorke was received by Stormont on the twelfth; and the passagr Stormont demanded Dec. 1. the exemplary and immediate punishment of the Amsterdam offenders; and on the fifth he asked of 5. Yorke some ideas for a manifesto, for he was preparing to send secret orders to seize the Dutch settlements in the West Indies. Stormont to Yorke, Confidential, 5 Dec., 1780. Then, on the sixteenth, 16. before he even knew that his second memorial had been presented, having been informed that, on the afternoon of the eleventh, the states-general had resolved to ma
George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of the American Continent, Vol. 10, Chapter 21: (search)
ar was thrown upon France. Yet the cabinet resolved to go far in complying with the request of the United States. Franklin had Chap. XXI.} 1781. already obtained the promise of a gift of six millions of livres, and a loan of four millions; Necker consented to a loan of ten millions more, to be raised in Holland in the name of the king of France. To insure to the United States a maritime superiority, de Grasse, who had the naval command in America, received orders to repair from the West Indies to the north in the course of the year, and conform himself to the counsels of Washington and Rochambeau. On the other hand, the great expense of re-enforcing Rochambeau by another detachment from the French army was on Washington's recommendation avoided; and America was left to herself to find men for the struggle on land. The decision displeased Rochambeau, who understood little of the country to which he was sent, and nothing of its language, and he entreated leave to return to Euro
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