a sudden dash, under the guidance of a tory, made him prisoner, and conveyed him rapidly to New York. For some time he was closely confined, and considered not as a prisoner of war, but as a deserter from the British army.[1] The capture of General Lee was regarded as a great misfortune by the Americans; for at that time he enjoyed, in a high degree, the esteem and confidence of the army and of the country: on the other hand, the British exulted in his captivity, as equal to a victory, declaring that they "had taken the American palladium."[2]
General Sullivan, who, on the 4th of September, had been exchanged for General Prescott, when Lord Stirling also had been exchanged for General M'Donald, succeeded to the command on the capture of Lee; he immediately pressed forward, and on the 20th of December, crossing the Delaware at Philipsburg, joined the commander-in-chief. On the same day General Gates, with part of the army of Canada, arrived in camp. But even after the junction of those troops, and a number of militia of Pennsylvania, Washington's force did not exceed seven thousand men; for though many had joined the army, yet not a few were daily leaving it; and of those who remained, the greater part were raw troops, ill-provided, and all of them dispirited by defeat.
General Howe, with an army of twenty-seven thousand men, completely armed and disciplined, well-provided, and flushed with success, lay on the opposite side of the Delaware; stretching from Brunswick to the vicinity of Philadelphia, and ready, it was believed, to pass over as soon as the severity of the winter was set in, and the river completely frozen. To the Americans this was a very dark period of the contest: and their affairs appeared in a hopeless condition. To deepen the gloom of this period, so alarming to the Americans, and to confirm the confidence of the British army, General Clinton, with two brigades of British and two of Hessian troops, escorted by a squadron of men-of-war under Sir Peter Parker, was sent against Rhode Island. The American force was incapable of making any effectual resistance, and retreated on Clinton's approach; so that on the day that Washington crossed the Delaware, he took possession' of Rhode Island, without opposition. This loss was a very serious one, as well from the situation of the province, as because the American squadron, under Commodore Hopkins, was compelled to withdraw as far up the Providence River as it was practicable, and to continue there blocked up and useless for a long time
- ↑ See Irving's "Life of Washington," vol. ii. pp.52, etc., for a full and graphic account of Lee's probable purpose in the course he pursued.
- ↑ Lee being of superior rank to any prisoner in the hands of the American, could not be exchanged. Six field-officers were offered in exchange for him and refused; and Congress was highly irritated at its being reported that he was to be treated as a deserter, because he had been a half-pay officer in the British service previous to the war. In consequence of this they issued a proclamation, threatening to retaliate on the prisoners in their possession whatever punishment should be inflicted on any of those taken by the British, and especially that their conduct should be regulated by the treatment of General Lee. A great deal of suffering, on both sides, by the unfortunate prisoners resulted from the course adopted by the British to refuse the usual comity of war in the case of Lee.
