Our French allies; Rochambeau and his army, Lafayette and his devotion, D'Estaing, De Ternay, Barras, De Grasse, and their fleets, in the great war of the American revolution, from 1778 to 1782 - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884 Excerpt: ...war has the interposition of Providence appeared more remarkably conspicuous than In the rescue of the post and garrison at West Point. How far Arnold meant to Involve me In the catastrophe of this place does not appear by any indubitable evidence, and I am inclined to think he did not wish to hazard the more Important object by attempting to combine two lesser events, the lesser of which might have marred the greater. A combination of extraordinary circumstances, and unaccountable deprivation of presence of mind in a man of the first abilities, and the virtue of three militia men, threw the Adjutant-General of the British forces, with full proof of Arnold's intention, into our hands, and but for the egregious folly or the bewildered conception of Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, who seemed lost in astonishment, and not to have known what he was doing, I should undoubtedly have gotten Arnold. "Andre has met his fate, and with that fortitude which was to be expected from an accomplished man and a gallant officer; but I mistake if Arnold is suffering at this time the torments of a mental hell. He wants feeling. From some traits of his character which have lately come to my knowledge, he seems to have been so hackneyed in crime, so lost to all sense of honor and shame, that while his faculties still enable him to continue his sordid pursuits, there will be no time for remorse." A hundred years, now passed, have but slightly diminished a painful interest in the sad story of Major Andre. He was an accomplished officer, and had an amiable disposition. Ambitious to serve his King, and to win glory to himself, he came to America. After adverse fortune in Canada, where he was made a prisoner of war, he became a member of General Sir Henry Clinton's military fam...