contemplated by the enemy. To protect that important city Washington took post at the Forks of the Brandywine; and the battle of that name ensued between him and General Howe. In the retreat which followed this defeat, Hamilton, in the heroic performance of his duty, was placed in a position of imminent peril, and his escape from death was deemed almost miraculous. He attempted to destroy a small store of provisions which lay on the Schuylkill, in the route of the victorious British. While thus engaged, the enemy suddenly came upon him. Hamilton and four of his men retreated to a boat on the river, entered it, and commenced to row for their lives. While thus employed volley after volley were discharged into the boat, and three out of the five who occupied it were wounded, before they escaped beyond the reach of the enemy's fire. After this adventure, Hamilton was dispatched by Washington to Philadelphia, for the purpose of raising contributions to the future support of the army from the ladies of that city. He addressed them a letter, which has always been much admired for the superiority and brilliancy of its style. Its success was in the highest degree encouraging. Hamilton spent the winter of 1777 with Washington in his quarters on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill above Philadelphia; and was present in the indecisive engagement at Germantown.

CHAPTER III.

EVENTS OF 1777-CONSPIRACY AGAINST WASHINGTON IN THE ARMY AND IN CONGRESS-HAMILTON'S MISSION TO GATES-HIS SUCCESS-EVENTS OF 1778-HAMILTON'S CONDUCT AT MONMOUTH-LEE'S RETREAT-LEE'S SUBSEQUENT COURT-MARTIAL-HAMILTON'S GROWING FAME-HIS POPULARITY WITH THE ARMY-LAFAYETTE.

THE year 1777 is remarkable in the history of the American Revolution, as the one in which conspiracy was formed and carried to a considerable length against the commander-in-chief of the continental armies.

The origin of this base cabal is to be found in the unjust dissatisfaction of the community at the repeated defeats which the army under Washington had suffered, and in the unprincipled ambition of General Gates, the fortunate conqueror of General Burgoyne. The American people in this instance forgot, to some extent, their usual sense of justice and reason; for they blamed Washington because Philadelphia and New York had fallen into the hands of the enemy, and because the latter had been victorious in a series of hard fought conflicts; although they knew that the continental army was small in number, composed in a great measure of raw recruits,

half naked, without arms, without ammunition, without every thing which gives efficiency and confidence to a martial host; while, on the other hand, they also knew that the British forces were uniformly vastly superior in numbers, superior in discipline, abundantly supplied with arms, ammunition, and stores, and encouraged by a large and considerable portion of disaffected people.

When Washington went into winter quarters, after the occupation of Philadelphia by the British, the Legislature of Pennsylvania addressed a remonstrance to Congress on the subject, in which they gave utterance to sentiments of dissatisfaction with the commander-in-chief. Congress then appointed a new board of war, of which General Gates, whom many wished to make the rival of Washington, was made president, and Generals Mifflin and Conway, bitter enemies of Washington, were appointed members. General Gates, elated by his success in the capture of Burgoyne, was not unwilling to lend himself to the base uses of this faction. General Conway, whom Washington justly stigmatizes in one of his letters, as "a dangerous incendiary, in which character the country will sooner or later know him," was particularly active in his secret and public hostility to Washington. All the disasters and defeats of the war were ascribed to the incom

petency of that general. The exploit of Gates was triumphantly pointed at as an evidence of what a commander of real ability and energy could effect. Conway asserted that "Heaven has been determined to save the country, or a weak general and bad counselors would have ruined it." To Gates an independent command was given by the Board of War, in the north, which interfered with the freedom and efficiency of Washington's movements. Calumnies, both secret and public, were widely diffused against him, in every possible way, by the disaffected. Mr. Laurens, the President of Congress, received anonymous letters full of the basest and vilest charges against him. These letters Mr. Laurens sent to Washington to apprize him of what was going on. In answer to the communication of that patriot which accompanied the infamous missives, Washington, whose great and serene soul remained undisturbed amid the dangers, difficulties, and miseries of his position, answered as follows:

"I was not unapprized that a malignant faction had been for some time forming to my prejudice, which, conscious as I am of having done all in my power to answer the important purposes of the trusts reposed in me, could not but give me some pain on a personal account; but my chief concern arises from an apprehension of the dangerous consequences

which intestine dissensions may produce to the

common cause.

"The anonymous paper handed you exhibits many serious charges, and it is my wish that it may be submitted to Congress.

"My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of me. They know the delicacy of my situation, and that motives of policy deprive me of the defense I might otherwise make against their insidious attacks. They know I cannot combat their insinuations, however injurious, without disclosing secrets it is of the utmost moment to conceal."

General Mifflin, the quarter-master general of the army, was another of the chief causes of the difficulties which existed. After this cabal had carried on their schemes for some time, public sentiment crushed their influence so completely that their malignant efforts produced no results. General Mifflin at last felt constrained by the force of public opinion to resign his post.

How Washington felt and acted under the operation of these machinations, we feel naturally curious to inquire; and his conduct and temper on this occasion must go far in deciding our estimate of his extraordinary character. Endowed with a mind not only of colossal strength, but of singular firmness, these aspersions caused neither agitation nor excite