The American Revolution Part 19

Views of the different parties 5, 6

Lord North's political somersault 6

Strange scene in the House of Commons 7, 8

Treaty between France and the United States (February 6, 1778) 8, 9

Great Britain declares war against France (March 13) 10

Demand for Lord Chatham for prime minister 11, 12

The king's rage 12, 13

What Chatham would have tried to do 13, 14

Death of Chatham 14-16

His prodigious greatness 16-20

Lord North remains in power 20, 21

His commissioners in America fail to accomplish anything 22

Germain's new plan for conducting the war 22, 23

CHAPTER IX

VALLEY FORGE

Distress in America 24

Lack of organization 25

Vexatious meddling of Congress with the army 26

Sufferings at Valley Forge 27

Promoting officers for non-military reasons 28

Absurd talk of John Adams 29

Gates is puffed up with success 30

And shows symptoms of insubordination 31

The Conway cabal 32, 33

Attempts to injure Was.h.i.+ngton 34, 35

Conway's letter to Gates 36

Gates's letter to Was.h.i.+ngton 37

Was.h.i.+ngton's reply 38

Gates tries, unsuccessfully, to save himself by lying 39

But is successful, as usual, in keeping from under fire 40

The forged letters 40

Scheme for invading Canada 41

The dinner at York, and Lafayette's toast 42

Absurdity of the scheme 43

Downfall of the cabal 43

Decline of the Continental Congress 44, 45

Increasing influence of Was.h.i.+ngton 45, 46

CHAPTER X

MONMOUTH AND NEWPORT

Baron Friedrich von Steuben 47-49

He arrives in America and visits Congress at York 50

His work in training the army at Valley Forge 51-53

His manual of tactics 54

Sir William Howe resigns his command 55

The Mischianza 56

The British evacuate Philadelphia (June 18, 1778) 56, 57

Arnold takes command there 57

Charles Lee is exchanged, and returns to his command in the American army 58

His reasons for returning 58, 59