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washington and his comrades in arms-第39章

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st of mankind and unfit to live; we can imagine the spirit of mobs; which had sometimes the further incentive of greed for Loyalist property。 Loyalists had the experience of what we now call boycotting when they could not buy or sell in the shops and were forced to see their own shops plundered。 Mills would not grind their corn。 Their cattle were maimed and poisoned。 They could not secure payment of debts due to them or; if payment was made; they received it in the debased continental currency at its face value。 They might not sue in a court of law; nor sell their property; nor make a will。 It was a felony for them to keep arms。 No Loyalist might hold office; or practice law or medicine; or keep a school。

Some Loyalists were deported to the wilderness in the back country。 Many took refuge within the British lines; especially at New York。 Many Loyalists created homes elsewhere。 Some went to England only to find melancholy disillusion of hope that a grateful motherland would understand and reward their sacrifices。 Large numbers found their way to Nova Scotia and to Canada; north of the Great Lakes; and there played a part in laying the foundation of the Dominion of today。 The city of Toronto with a population of half a million is rooted in the Loyalist traditions of its Tory founders。 Simcoe; the first Governor of Upper Canada; who made Toronto his capital; was one of the most enterprising of the officers who served with Cornwallis in the South and surrendered with him at Yorktown。

The State of New York acquired from the forfeited lands of Loyalists a sum approaching four million dollars; a great amount in those days。 Other States profited in a similar way。 Every Loyalist whose property was seized had a direct and personal grievance。 He could join the British army and fight against his oppressors; and this he did: New York furnished about fifteen thousand men to fight on the British side。 Plundered himself; he could plunder his enemies; and this too he did both by land and sea。 In the autumn of 1778 ships manned chiefly by Loyalist refugees were terrorizing the coast from Massachusetts to New Jersey。 They plundered Martha's Vineyard; burned some lesser towns; such as New Bedford; and showed no quarter to small parties of American troops whom they managed to intercept。

What happened on the coast happened also in the interior。 At Wyoming in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania; in July; 1778; during a raid of Loyalists; aided by Indians; there was a brutal massacre; the horrors of which long served to inspire hate for the British。 A little later in the same year similar events took place at Cherry Valley; in central New York。 Burning houses; the dead bodies not only of men but of women and children scalped by the savage allies of the Loyalists; desolation and ruin in scenes once peaceful and happy such horrors American patriotism learned to associate with the Loyalists。 These in their turn remembered the slow martyrdom of their lives as social outcasts; the threats and plunder which in the end forced them to fly; the hardships; starvation; and death to their loved ones which were wont to follow。 The conflict is perhaps the most tragic and irreconcilable in the whole story of the Revolution。



CHAPTER X。 FRANCE TO THE RESCUE

During 1778 and 1779 French effort had failed。 Now France resolved to do something decisive。 She never sent across the sea the eight thousand men promised to La Fayette but by the spring of 1780 about this number were gathered at Brest to find that transport was inadequate。 The leader was a French noble; the Comte de Rochambeau; an old campaigner; now in his fifty…fifth year; who had fought against England before in the Seven Years' War and had then been opposed by Clinton; Cornwallis; and Lord George Germain。 He was a sound and prudent soldier who shares with La Fayette the chief glory of the French service in America。 Rochambeau had fought at the second battle of Minden; where the father of La Fayette had fallen; and he had for the ardent young Frenchman the amiable regard of a father and sometimes rebuked his impulsiveness in that spirit。 He studied the problem in America with the insight of a trained leader。 Before he left France he made the pregnant comment on the outlook: 〃Nothing without naval supremacy。〃 About the same time Washington was writing to La Fayette that a decisive naval supremacy was a fundamental need。

A gallant company it was which gathered at Brest。 Probably no other land than France could have sent forth on a crusade for democratic liberty a band of aristocrats who had little thought of applying to their own land the principles for which they were ready to fight in America。 Over some of them hung the shadow of the guillotine; others were to ride the storm of the French Revolution and to attain fame which should surpass their sanguine dreams。 Rochambeau himself; though he narrowly escaped during the Reign of Terror; lived to extreme old age and died a Marshal of France。 Berthier; one of his officers; became one of Napoleon's marshals and died just when Napoleon; whom he had deserted; returned from Elba。 Dumas became another of Napoleon's generals。 He nearly perished in the retreat from Moscow but lived; like Rochambeau; to extreme old age。 One of the gayest of the company was the Duc de Lauzun; a noted libertine in France but; as far as the record goes; a man of blameless propriety in America。 He died on the scaffold during the French Revolution。 So; too; did his companion; the Prince de Broglie; in spite of the protest of his last words that he was faithful to the principles of the Revolution; some of which he had learned in America。 Another companion was the Swedish Count Fersen; later the devoted friend of the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette; the driver of the carriage in which the royal family made the famous flight to Varennes in 1791; and himself destined to be trampled to death by a Swedish mob in 1810。 Other old and famous names there were: Laval…Montmorency; Mirabeau; Talleyrand; Saint…Simon。 It has been said that the names of the French officers in America read like a list of medieval heroes in the Chronicles of Froissart。

Only half of the expected ships were ready at Brest and only five thousand five hundred men could embark。 The vessels were; of course; very crowded。 Rochambeau cut down the space allowed for personal effects。 He took no horse for himself and would allow none to go; but he permitted a few dogs。 Forty…five ships set sail; 〃a truly imposing sight;〃 said one of those on board。 We have reports of their ennui on the long voyage of seventy days; of their amusements and their devotions; for twice daily were prayers read on deck。 They sailed into Newport on the 11th of July and the inhabitants of that still primitive spot illuminated their houses as best they could。 Then the army settled down at Newport and there it remained for many weary months。 Reinforcements never came; partly through mismanagement in France; partly through the vigilance of the British fleet; which was on guard before Brest。 The French had been for generations the deadly enemies of the English Colonies and some of the French officers noted the reserve with which they were rec
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