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Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion Ages 9 to 12: A Language

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Descriptosaurus Grammar
Companion Ages 9 to 12

Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion Ages 9 to 12 is a flexible grammar toolkit

based on current research about effective strategies for teaching grammar tools
and sentence construction (investigation, imitation, combining and expansion).
It includes guidelines, exercises, scaffolds and models, and by showing a clear
progression route to the acquisition and consolidation of increasingly more
complex grammar tools it provides teachers and students with a road map that
makes learning about sentence construction and revision visible.

This book is a collection of connected resources that can be used as and when
required and it provides an easily accessible differentiation resource for each
student based on their current stage of development, not the age-related
targets and expectations. It enables the learning process for grammar tools to be
recursive rather than linear: to be regularly revisited in short bursts to consolidate
students’ knowledge and usage, or to correct any misconceptions or problem
areas without impeding any writing activities already planned. Chapters focus on
four main points:

 Investigation
 Imitation
 Combining
 Expansion

This Grammar Companion supports the main Descriptosaurus book and scaffolds
students in their journey through the world of language. This essential resource
will strengthen their language muscles and build confidence with sentence
manipulation when revising their own texts, thus freeing their minds to think
about the important issues of writing: content, audience and purpose, and
organisation and structure.

Alison Wilcox has extensive teaching experience in schools in England and

Scotland. Colleagues describe her methods as “innovative and inspirational to
even the most reluctant of writers”.
Descriptosaurus
Grammar Companion
Ages 9 to 12
A Language Toolkit and Support for
Creative Writing

Alison Wilcox
Designed cover image: © Dani Pasteau
First published 2024
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2024 Alison Wilcox
The right of Alison Wilcox to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The name ‘Descriptosaurus’ is a registered trademark by the author
Registered under No. 2453231 in April 2017
The mark has been registered in respect of Class 16
Printed matter; printed educational reference book
In the name of Alison Stevenson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any
form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-66285-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-66283-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-66286-2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781032662862
Typeset in Myriad Pro
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
“Writing is hard work. A clear sentence is no accident. Very few sentences
come out right the first time, or even the third time. Remember this in
moments of despair. If you find that writing is hard, it’s because it is hard.”
― William Zinsser, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide
to Writing Nonfiction
Copyright © 1976, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2006 by William K. Zinsser.
From On Writing Well, Seventh (30th Anniversary) Edition, published by Collins. Reprinted by
permission of the William K. Zinsser Trust.


 Contents

Acknowledgements ix
Introduction x

Part 1: Investigations 1
1 Chunking into meaningful sentence parts 3
2 Subject and predicate 14
3 Writing craft tools 36
4 An investigative approach 50
5 Prepositional phrases 54
6 Adverb clauses 80
7 Relative (adjective) clauses 120
8 Participial phrases 158

Part 2: Imitating 193

9 Sentence imitation method 195
10 Expanded noun phrases 205
11 Opening and delayed adjectives 212
12 Opening and delayed adverbs 216
13 Compound verbs 220
14 Imitating examples from literature 222
 viii Contents

Part 3: Sentence combining 231

15 Sentence combining method 233
16 Expanded noun phrases 244
17 Adverb clauses 275
18 Relative (adjective) clauses 302
19 Participial phrases 321
20 How to create a sentence combining exercise from a text 350
21 Poetry 356
22 Sentence combining using non-fiction fact sheets or texts 367
23 History: The Blitz in World War II 377
24 Settings 379
25 De-combining to correct errors and confused constructions 393

Part 4: Sentence expansion 401

26 Sentence expansion method 403
27 Sentence expansion: A writer’s lens: ‘Show not tell’ 412
28 ‘Show not tell’ warm-up exercises 418

Bibliography 423
 Acknowledgements

Thank you to all the students I have had the pleasure to work with over the years
who have patiently and enthusiastically explored with me the many strategies
for learning about sentence construction and revising a text. It has given me
immense pleasure to watch those students transform into competent, confident
and creative writers.
 Introduction

AIM

The aim of the Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion Ages 9 to 12 is to provide a

resource that supports and improves the teaching of two of the fundamental
building blocks of good writing, the ability to:

1. write clear, precise and complete sentences

2. revise a first draft for syntactic accuracy and fluency.

Mastering these elements of writing are vital in enabling students to:

 demonstrate their talent and knowledge in all subjects

 reach their full potential both in education and their future career prospects.

The goal of writing instruction should be to help students to cope with the oner-
ous cognitive demands imposed by writing. E. W. Nold (1981) suggests that one
way in which young and developing writers can exercise better control over the
composing process is by making various elements of the process automatic.
Building a bank of vocabulary, phrases and clauses; understanding the function,
construction, position and punctuation of grammar tools; and practising and
experimenting with sentence construction and revision will build confidence
and automaticity with sentence construction and manipulation. This will greatly
reduce the onerous cognitive demands of writing and leave more processing
space available for consideration of purpose, content and text cohesion.


 Introduction xi

A FLEXIBLE GRAMMAR TOOLKIT

The Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion Ages 9 to 12 is a flexible grammar toolkit

based on current research about the effective strategies for writing instruction
(investigation, imitation, combining and expansion). It includes guidelines, scaf-
folds and models, and by showing a clear progression route to the acquisition
and consolidation of increasingly more complex grammar tools it provides teach-
ers and students with a road map that makes learning about sentence construc-
tion and revision visible. The handbook helps students to identify where they are
at, what knowledge and skills they need to acquire and what they are aiming to
achieve. It is designed to support student writers according to their current stage
of development rather than to age-related targets and expectations. The hand-
book is a resource that can be used not only to teach a new grammar tool but to
return to a tool previously studied, allowing either a group or an individual stu-
dent to consolidate their knowledge and usage or to correct any misconceptions.
It is an easily accessible resource for students, enabling them to practise
expressing ideas using different grammar tools without the additional cognitive
demands of having to develop their own content. The focus is purely on using the
content provided to construct and experiment with different grammar tools and
sentence structures.
Currently, the teaching of grammar tools and sentence constructions is too
often a modular, linear process based on age-related writing targets and the
grammar strands of individual national or state curricula; however, to be effective,
consistent revision of the ‘grammar tools’ available is vital. Whilst a student might
be taught about relative (adjective clauses) at the age of ten, this does not guar-
antee that they have a secure understanding of how and when to use them, their
function and position, and how they are punctuated. Extensive research supports
scheduling a time delay between learning sessions, as this forces students to work
harder to retrieve the information, process or strategy. This helps to consolidate it
into their long-term memory, leading to automaticity and mastery of the skill or
strategy – in this case sentence construction.
As well as introducing the phrases and clauses required for each age group
and key stage, it is important to see each of the grammar tools as building blocks
that are added gradually to the foundations and base structure. These building
 xii Introduction

blocks improve the effectiveness of the original design, resulting in a unique

and elaborate design. Starting initially with a one-storey basic construction, with
knowledge and experience new layers and designs are added until students can
construct their own ‘grand edifices’; these are always built on solid foundations,
with each layer being reinforced and any gaps cemented. Adding more com-
plex designs without first developing structural knowledge will result in half-
remembered rules and techniques; a confused design will cause the construction
to become a tangle of different rules that are ineffectually applied. It will also
prohibit the acquisition of an essential component of developing writing skills
– automaticity in sentence construction, ultimately leading to structures that do
not achieve their purpose, are overly complicated and confusing, and do not sat-
isfy the needs of the audience (or external examiner). Before adding extensions
and new designs, it is therefore essential to revisit and assess the solidity of the
foundations. Writing progression and the acquisition of grammar tools should be
tackled as a recursive rather than linear process, one which considers students’
experience, knowledge and understanding, and makes connections to the gram-
mar tools that have already been learned and mastered.
The design of this handbook enables the learning process for grammar tools
to be recursive rather than linear. It allows for grammar tools to be regularly revis-
ited in short bursts without impeding the writing activities already planned. This
approach allows problem areas to be addressed that have become evident from
assessing a group or individual’s writing progress.

EFFECTIVE METHODS

There is overwhelming evidence that teaching traditional grammar by labelling,

identifying and parsing sentences in isolated grammar exercises does not transfer
to students’ own writing. However, extensive evidence suggests that there are
three effective contexualised methods which facilitate students’ understanding
and application of grammar in terms of sentence construction, modification and
revision, and which do transfer to their own writing.

1. Sentence imitation.
2. Sentence combining.
3. Sentence expansion.
 Introduction xiii

Although each method should be modelled and practised separately, the pro-
cesses are complementary. They should be used together to consolidate knowl-
edge of the ‘grammar tools’ available as well as developing automaticity in
sentence construction, experimentation, evaluation and the revision of a text.
Based on the work of Don and Jenny Killgallon (see the Bibliography for further
details), several scaffolds can be used to explore the function, construction, posi-
tion and punctuation of grammar (modification) tools in a sentence:

 chunking
 modelling
 matching
 unscrambling
 combining
 imitating
 creating.

These methods are demonstrated in Part 1 for:

 prepositional phrases
 adverb clauses
 relative (adjective) clauses
 participial phrases.

CHUNKING A SENTENCE

Learning to construct sentences is based on the same concept as learning to com-

prehend what we have read: phrase by phrase not word by word. We divide a
sentence into meaningful ‘chunks’, which allows us to read more effectively to
understand, or to write more concisely and clearly to make a point. Phrases and
clauses are the building blocks of language, the craft (grammar) tools of writing,
and we naturally divide sentences into these meaningful chunks.
The grammar tools (word, phrases and clauses) demonstrated in this book
include:

 expanded noun phrases

 prepositional phrases
 xiv Introduction

 adverb clauses
 relative (adjective) clauses
 opening and delayed adjectives
 opening and delayed adverbs
 participial phrases.

When modelling and exploring a new tool or revisiting one already studied, an
effective approach for struggling or inexperienced writers is to pare back the
model to a kernel (base) sentence and isolate the grammar tool. You can then
examine, discuss, explore and experiment with:

 the function and effect (cohesion, clarity, precision and emphasis) of

using that particular phrase, clause or technique, comparing it with other
variations
 the construction of the phrase or clause
 how the grammar tool is embedded or added to the kernel sentence,
including punctuation
 where the grammar tool can be positioned in a sentence: beginning, mid-
dle (between the subject and verb) or end, and how the position impacts
on the flow, emphasis and clarity of the sentence.

It is also important to:

 make explicit any links with similar grammar tools, for example, coordi-
nating conjunctions and semi-colons, expanded noun phrases, relative
clauses and participial phrases
 experiment with changing word order, for example, using delayed adjec-
tives to improve a long list of adjectives preceding the noun, and how this
changes the emphasis and creates a different rhythm.

Once students have developed their knowledge of the various phrases and
clauses at their disposal and gained confidence with using and experimenting
with these sentence parts, work on sentence variety, manipulation and length,
as well as combining and connecting ideas and images becomes more effective.
This is a useful technique to imitate sentence constructions and to elicit the main
points when paraphrasing a text.
 Introduction xv

Chapters 3 and 23 include a detailed breakdown of the grammar tools, which:

1. defines and illustrates the construction of subject and predicate phrases

and subordinate clauses, and demonstrates what each adds to a writer’s
toolkit
2. demonstrates progression and variation by taking a simple kernel
sentence

A snake slithered slowly through the grass.

and, using the various grammar tools, expands and varies its construc-
tion, rhythm and emphasis.

WHAT DO STUDENTS NEED?

STUDENTS NEED TO KNOW:

 what ‘grammar tools’ are available

 what they add to a sentence
 how to use them in their own writing.

STUDENTS NEED TO:

 have excellent models

 link writing to reading.

To widen their repertoire of phrases and clauses, students should collect models
by professional authors found in class texts (fiction or non-fiction) or from their
personal reading. These models will illustrate different constructions that create a
variety of rhythms and emphasis.

REVISING A TEXT

Effective teaching of writing includes working on sentence construction and

manipulation during the revision stage of the writing process, in order to explore
and experiment with different constructions.
 xvi Introduction

Researching and writing Descriptosaurus Personal Writing: The Writing Process in

Action (2022) highlighted the lack of attention by students to the revision pro-
cess, who were instead committed to a one-draft method with varying degrees of
‘proofreading’. And even when time was allocated for revising a text, the amend-
ments made were surface-level changes, focusing on word choice, spelling, punc-
tuation and capitalisation. There was a failure to appreciate that it is at the revision
stage of the process that sentence construction work proves to be the most effec-
tive: expanding sentences, combining them, reformulating them; changing con-
structions for rhythm, effect and emphasis in the context of the whole passage.
There was a lack of understanding that experienced writers work from a first draft,
and then during the revision stage rearrange the structure of the content, develop
description and detail, and craft powerful, interesting and vivid sentences. Well-
structured, developed, descriptive writing and original sentences rarely emerge
from a pen or keyboard without extensive work and a willingness to experiment,
add, delete or substitute in the revision stage of the writing process. But to be
able to do this effectively, students need to know what grammar tools (writing
craft tools) are available and to have practised using them.

SENTENCE COMBINING

Research by Saddler and Graham (2005) provided evidence that the ability to
construct grammatically correct and syntactically mature sentences and to revise
a text improved after learning and practising sentence combining in a peer-
assisted arrangement. Many studies have agreed on the positive effects of sen-
tence combining practice to enhance syntactic fluency and improve the quality
of students’ writing.
The goal of sentence combining practice is to improve students’ fluency in sen-
tence construction and their proficiency in moving sentence parts around when
revising their texts. This is achieved by providing structured practice in manipu-
lating and rewriting basic and kernel sentences into more syntactically mature
and varied forms.
This system can be taught and practised alongside a writing process approach
and can be easily tailored to meet the needs and skill levels of individual students.
Exercises can be introduced at any time and can be developed from class texts or
Descriptosaurus. Using students’ own writing is also beneficial as it engages them
 Introduction xvii

at their level of understanding and makes their progress visible. This shows them
where they currently are, where they are aiming and the steps they need to take
to improve. For example, this approach would help students who are currently:

 writing in short, choppy sentences

 creating sentences that are connected by a series of ‘ands’
 comma splicing
 developing many of their sentences in the same way
 writing a series of long, complex and confusing sentences.

These exercises can be done orally or in writing as an independent consolida-

tion or a revision activity. However, whichever method is used, it is important to
provide opportunities for discussion as this is vital to developing students’ knowl-
edge, understanding and confidence with language. Acquiring the ‘technical’
knowledge of how to construct, position and punctuate a grammar tool is only
a small part of ensuring its accurate and effective use in students’ own writing.
It is important to use these exercises to discuss what a grammar tool adds to a
sentence in terms of detail, clarity and cohesion, rhythm and emphasis, which will
hopefully lead to students spotting similar techniques in their own reading and
imitating them in their writing.
The exercises in this book are designed to provide a template that can be easily
adapted for models selected from a class or student’s text.
Whilst grammar tools have been examined in isolation in this section, authors
often use a range of grammar tools in a sentence to achieve a certain effect,
impact or rhythm. It is always exciting and useful to examine how an author has
created a particular effect in their writing by ordering words, phrases and clauses
in new and creative ways. With a working knowledge of the grammar tools, this
makes this process more accessible to students.

GUIDELINES, EXERCISES AND MODELS

(FICTION AND NON-FICTION)

Apart from using the language toolkit provided in Descriptosaurus (Fourth Edition)
to create the models and exercises for descriptive writing, this book also includes
guidelines, exercises, resources and models to support using the same techniques
 xviii Introduction

to learn about non-fiction topics, such as the Great Fire of London. This process is
also useful for

 revising subject content

 providing a revision outline for a topic
 crafting a paragraph.

Using authentic class texts (fiction or non-fiction) is invaluable to learning about

sentence construction, so Chapter 20 provides guidelines on how to construct a
sentence combining exercise from a class text.
A sample sentence de-combining exercise is also included in Chapter 25 as this
is a useful tool for teachers to be able to use in the context of students’ own writ-
ing to de-combine overly complex and confused sentences into a series of base
(kernel) sentences, before then working on recombining them for greater clarity
and precision.

EXPERIMENTING WITH DIFFERENT GRAMMAR TOOLS

It is important to make explicit any links between grammar tools to enable stu-
dents to experiment with the use of a variety of phrases and clauses. They can
also discuss which grammar tool is the most effective in the context of their text
in terms of clarity, precision, emphasis and cohesion.

EXAMPLE 1: MAKING CONNECTIONS WITH OTHER GRAMMAR TOOLS

Introducing the semi-colon

 Demystify the semi-colon by making connections with what students

already know and understand.
 Demonstrate how a semi-colon can be used instead of a coordinating
conjunction.
 Demonstrate how a comma cannot be used to join two independent
clauses.
 Introduction xix

Students experiment with the semi-colon using their own writing.

 Find sentences joined by coordinating conjunctions.

 Substitute coordinating conjunctions with a semi-colon.

Discuss which is more effective in the context of the text and why.

Example:

1. Two simple sentences

The crunching had stopped. The cave fell silent.

2. Join using a coordinating conjunction

The crunching had stopped, and the cave fell silent.

3. Semi-colon

The crunching had stopped; the cave fell silent.

The cave fell silent; the crunching had stopped.

4. Comma splice

The crunching had stopped, the cave fell silent.

(Examining the run-on sentences is useful when investigating semi-colons as it
gives students another tool to use when editing their work.)

Other grammar tools

1. Subordinating conjunction

When the crunching had stopped, the cave fell silent.

2. Colon

The crunching had stopped: silence.

 xx Introduction

EXAMPLE 2: EXPERIMENTING WITH THE POSITION OF A

GRAMMAR TOOL

Experiment with positioning the participial phrases at the opening, middle and
end of a sentence and discuss which option is preferred and why.

1a. ^, James stepped up onto the stage.

1b He clutched his hands together to stop them shaking. (-ING)
clutched ˃ clutch ˃ clutching

i. Clutching his hands together to stop them shaking, James stepped up

onto the stage.
ii. James, clutching his hands together to stop them shaking, stepped up
onto the stage.
iii. James stepped up onto the stage, clutching his hands together to stop
them shaking.

Other grammar tools

1. A coordinating conjunction

James clutched his hands together to stop them shaking and stepped up onto
the stage.

2. A relative (adjective) clause

James, who was clutching his hands together to stop them shaking, stepped
up onto the stage.

3. An adverb clause

As he stepped up onto the stage, James clutched his hands together to stop
them shaking.
James clutched his hands together to stop them shaking as he stepped up onto
the stage.
Compare which grammar tool is more effective in the context of each sentence
and discuss why (clarity, cohesion, rhythm, emphasis).
 Introduction xxi

CONCLUSION

An extensive vocabulary is a necessary starting point, but it is by paying attention

to language as modelled in the fourth edition of Descriptosaurus or class texts, by
identifying an author’s craft and using the Descriptosaurus Grammar Companion
Ages 9–12 to learn how to use words, to combine them, and to rearrange them
for effect that turns an apprentice writer into a master. Chunking sentences into
meaningful parts, imitating those parts, expanding sentences according to mod-
els and combining kernel sentences are all complementary processes. When used
in tandem they can consolidate students’ understanding of different sentence
types and arrangements and how they are constructed. They provide contex-
tualised methods for students to practise and experiment with imitating model
sentences and paragraphs. Students can then use that knowledge to develop
automaticity in sentence writing when composing their own texts, and to gain
independence in experimenting and evaluating different constructions and
amendments in the revision stage of the writing process.
The goal must be to ensure that students understand that grammar is a tool to
help communicate meaning clearly, precisely and effectively and to improve writ-
ing; to ensure that the focus is on the codes and structures of written language;
to encourage students to take risks; to understand that errors are welcomed as a
learning opportunity; and to try out and evaluate new sentence patterns to ena-
ble them to make informed choices in their own writing. Building knowledge of
grammar tools and automaticity in sentence construction increases confidence
with language, and, with practice and motivation, creates flair and individuality.
This language toolkit is a resource that supports students on their journey
towards automaticity in sentence construction. It does so by training their ‘auto-
matic pilot’, strengthening their language muscles and building confidence with
sentence manipulation when revising their own texts, thus freeing their minds
to think about the important issues of writing: content, audience and purpose,
organisation and structure.
Mastering the craft of writing is a long and difficult journey and, at times, stu-
dents can feel like they are navigating their way through a strange and noisy
landscape without a clearly labelled map. The fourth edition of Descriptosaurus
and its Grammar Companion aim to provide student writers with the vocabulary,
 xxii Introduction

tools, scaffolds and models to help them discover routes through the world of
language. Students are provided with a visual map to help them develop their
vocabulary and automaticity in sentence construction, as well as to have a vari-
ety of options in their writing toolkit. The resources also provide ideas, models
and activities to enable teachers to construct maps and routes appropriate to the
needs of their students.
Part 1
Investigations
 1
Chunking into meaningful
sentence parts
When we read a sentence, we automatically break it down into chunks of mean-
ing. Reading aloud and dividing the model sentences into chunks (as they would
naturally do when reading) helps students to become aware that authors com-
pose their sentences one ‘chunk’ (meaningful sentence part) at a time. This knowl-
edge is important for students as they learn to imitate model sentences and to
use them in their own writing.
Reading the sentence aloud taps into students’ linguistic experience gained
through speaking and reading, and they begin to automatically ‘chunk’ the sen-
tence parts meaningfully and grammatically. At this stage, do not insist on chunk-
ing according to grammatical divisions or identifying the terms for those sentence
parts. This knowledge is built up in the context of these exercises by discussing:

 why students have divided up the sentence in the way they have
 what information each sentence part tells the reader.

FOR EXAMPLE

1. The massive waves crashed mercilessly onto the side of the boat.
i. The massive/ waves crashed/ mercilessly onto/ the side of the boat.
ii. The massive waves/ crashed/mercilessly/ onto the side of the boat.

DOI: 10.4324/9781032662862-2
 4 Investigations

The massive waves What does this tell us?

Crashed What does this tell us?

Relentlessly What does this tell us?
onto the side of the boat What does this tell us?
a. What is the subject of the sentence? the massive waves
b. What did they do? crashed
c. How did they do it? relentlessly
d. Where did they crash? onto the side of the boat

Reading aloud each of the sentences that have already been chunked will help
students to ‘hear’ the chunks that have not been divided into meaningful sen-
tence parts.

FOR EXAMPLE

1. The massive/ waves crashed/ mercilessly onto/ the side of the boat.
i. Discussing why this sentence has not been divided into meaningful
chunks will elicit, for example, that the massive is incomplete. It does
not tell the reader what was massive and therefore is not a meaningful
sentence part.

As with development in reading comprehension (where students progress from

reading a sentence word by word to being able to group words together in chunks
of meaning which gradually increase in size), when students gain more experi-
ence and knowledge of writing conventions, and more automaticity with sen-
tence construction, they also develop the ability to hold larger chunks of meaning
in their working memory as they chunk or construct sentences.
 Chunking into meaningful sentence parts 5

EXERCISE 1
INSTRUCTIONS

1. In pairs, take turns to read each of the sentences aloud.

2. Decide which of the sentences is divided into meaningful chunks.

EXAMPLE

The monstrous wave reared up menacingly over the top of the boat.

i. The monstrous/ wave reared up/ menacingly over/ the top of the boat.
ii. The monstrous wave/ reared up/ menacingly/ over the top of the boat. √

1. A strange, swirling mist shrouded the old house.

i. A strange/ swirling mist shrouded/ the old house.

ii. A strange swirling mist/ shrouded the old house.

2. The horror of what she had just seen hit her like a hammer blow in the chest.

i. The horror/ of what she had just seen/ hit her like a hammer blow/ in the
chest.
ii. The horror/ of what she/ had just seen/ hit her like a hammer/ blow in
the chest.

3. The billowing curtains fluttered towards the light and brushed against her
face like rippling silk.

i. The billowing curtains/ fluttered towards the/ light and brushed against
her/ face like rippling silk.
ii. The billowing curtains/ fluttered towards the light/ and/ brushed
against her face/ like rippling silk.

4. The breeze which hissed through the gap in the door sounded like whis-
pered threats.

i. The breeze which/ hissed through the gap/ in the door sounded/ like
whispered threats.
ii. The breeze/ which hissed through the gap in the door/ sounded like
whispered threats.
6 Investigations

5. In the middle of the night she was woken by a piercing spine-chilling

scream.

i. In the middle of the night/ she was woken/ by a piercing spine-chilling

scream.
ii. In the middle/ of the night she was/ woken by a piercing /spine-chilling
scream.

EXERCISE 2

Punctuation has been removed for this exercise.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In pairs, read each sentence aloud.

2. Chunk sentences (i) and (ii) using a slash between sentence parts.
3. Mark the sentence which matches the sentence division in the model.
4. Write your own imitation of the model sentence.

EXAMPLE

Mercilessly/ the massive waves/ crashed onto the side/ of the boat.

i. Rising higher and higher/ in an arch/ above the boat/ was a monstrous
wave.
ii. Slowly/ the venomous snake/ slithered through the gap/ between the
railings. √
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the part of the commissariat, that the winter at Valley Forge was one
of such memorable suffering and death.

The Middle Atlantic States

190. The Coming of Baron von

Steuben.—But the winter, sad as it was in
most respects, brought one great
advantage. Agents in Europe succeeded in
persuading one of the most efficient
soldiers from the staff of Frederick the
Great to offer his experience to the
American cause. This was Baron von
Steuben.[88] He had gone through every
grade of the Prussian service up to the rank
of marshal, and his knowledge of military
 Baron von [Link] caused him to be appointed inspector
general of the American armies. It would be
difficult to overestimate the value of his services. He found the raw
American troops completely unaccustomed to the exact military
methods of Europe, and he set himself to teach them all the arts
and methods of the regular soldier. Taking a musket in his hand, this
Prussian officer of highest rank devoted himself from morning till
night to the most elementary, as well as the most intricate, parts of
military drill. Thus, in the course of the terrible winter at Valley
Forge, Baron von Steuben brought the army into a condition of
efficiency it had never known before.

191. General Causes of Discontent.—During this winter there

were numerous matters that occasioned great anxiety. It is at the
present time easy to see that Washington’s plan of conducting the
war was the only one that gave any promise of success. But it was
one that could be easily misunderstood and misrepresented. It was
possible for unfriendly critics to say that he had been driven from
New York; that he had lost Philadelphia; and that he had been
defeated in two important battles. It was also easy to overlook the
far more important fact that he had kept his army intact, and that he
had managed to fight and to avoid fighting in such a way as to keep
the enemy occupied at the center so that the great object of the
British campaign, the opening of the Hudson, was completely
frustrated.

192. Intrigues of Gates and Others.—The country was not

lacking in people who were ready to seize upon opportunities for
slander and intrigue. John Hancock, the first president of Congress,
had been ambitious for the position of commander in chief, and, as
many charged, had, in consequence of his failure to obtain that
office, resigned his presidency in disgust. The impetuous Samuel
Adams, and even John Adams, had uttered loud complaints over
what was called the “Fabian policy,” and had clamored for a short
and decisive war. The success of the Northern army had enabled
 Gates,[89] who was the arch-intriguer of the
time, to present his claims with some show
of plausibility. By distributing promises
throughout the army he created a
widespread sentiment in behalf of
Washington’s removal and his own
appointment. His friends sent letters from
every quarter to members of Congress,
representing that before Gates had
commanded the army of the North,
Burgoyne had had uninterrupted success,
General Horatio Gates. and that immediately after Gates’s
appointment the coils were rapidly thrown
about the British commander until he was compelled to surrender. Of
course no mention was made of the fact that the victory at
Bennington was solely due to Stark and his New England volunteers;
that the repulse of St. Leger was due to Herkimer and Arnold; and
that the two victories over Burgoyne were due chiefly to the vigor
and skill of Arnold and Morgan.

193. The Conway Cabal.—The most conspicuous manager of

the intrigue was an Irish-American officer, by the name of Conway,
who had not been promoted by Washington as rapidly as he had
desired. Congress, notwithstanding the opposition of Washington,
was disposed to advance Conway and a number of other
subordinate officers. Washington did not hesitate to express his
disapproval, and even went so far as to say, “It will be impossible for
me to be of any further service if such insuperable difficulties are
thrown in my way.” This was very justly interpreted as a threat to
resign, and it was effective. But the anger of Conway toward
Washington was naturally increased. The intrigues that followed
have passed into history as the “Conway Cabal.” The only success of
the movement was to induce Congress to reorganize the “Board of
War” and make Gates its president. Public sentiment was so
overwhelmingly favorable to Washington, that Congress ventured to
go no farther. Extracts from some of the letters were published and
thus the whole spirit of the intrigue was revealed. The scornful
silence of Washington, who never in his life condescended to defend
himself, reacted greatly in his favor. In the end, the commander in
chief was stronger in his position than ever. Gates resigned in
disgust and returned to his plantation in Virginia.
PROSPECTS BRIGHTEN.

194. Treaty with France.—America had now single-handedly

carried on the war for more than two years, but the defeat of
Burgoyne and St. Leger in the North, and the vigor with which
Washington conducted the campaign in New Jersey and about
Philadelphia, convinced the French that the time for recognition had
arrived. Treaties were signed on February 6, 1778, between France
and the United States, in which France pledged herself to furnish
ships, as well as men, and the Americans, on their part, agreed not
to cease the conflict until Great Britain acknowledged their
independence. Thereafter England was at war with France, as well
as with America.

195. Howe succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton.—The French

alliance obliged the British to change their plan of action. Howe, who
had never believed in the British policy, now resigned and returned
to England, and Sir Henry Clinton succeeded him in command.
Anticipating the approach of the French fleet, and evidently fearing
that the French and Americans together would prove too strong for
the British at New York, Clinton decided to evacuate Philadelphia.
Washington, whose army, notwithstanding the sufferings at Valley
Forge, showed the effects of the careful drilling by Baron von
Steuben, determined to attack the British on their northern march.

196. The Battle of Monmouth.—The place chosen was

Monmouth, and the battle took place on Sunday, the 28th of June.
The northern portion of the American force was ordered to attack
the British on their flank, while Washington himself, by closing in
upon their rear with the southern division, hoped to overwhelm
them. General Charles Lee, whose treason was still unknown to
Washington, had been exchanged, and, as senior major general, had
command of the northern portion of the army, consisting of about
six thousand men. Washington ordered him to attack Clinton’s flank
with vigor, while the commander in chief himself, with a still larger
force, was to attack at the moment when the enemy had been
thrown into confusion. Lee, however, on reaching the British, made
only a feeble show of advance and then ordered his troops to
withdraw. Washington, informed of the situation by a messenger
from Lafayette, rushed forward in furious anger and demanded an
explanation. As no satisfactory reason for his retreat could be given,
Washington ordered Lee to the rear, and, galloping along the
disordered mass of retreating troops, shouted for a halt, and then
reformed the lines. The results of the winter’s drill were at once felt,
for in the face of the enemy and under a hard fire the American
troops fell into order, wheeled about, and rushed forward to a new
attack. The British were driven from the ground they had gained;
but night came on, and the two armies occupied the positions held
before the battle. Before morning the British resumed their way to
New York.[90] After the battle, Lee was tried by a court-martial,
consisting of several of the most eminent officers in the army, and
was dismissed from the service.

197. First Efforts of the French.—The first efforts of the

French to assist the Americans were not fortunate. Count D’Estaing,
a kinsman of Lafayette, arrived on the 8th of July with a squadron of
twelve ships of the line and six frigates, and a land force on board of
four thousand men. His fleet was larger than that of Clinton; but as
two of his vessels could not cross the New York bar, he was not
strong enough to venture an attack. The next movement was an
effort to coöperate with the land force of General Sullivan in
reducing Newport, Rhode Island. This point had been taken by the
British soon after their expulsion from Boston, and had been held to
the present time. Sullivan now approached with a large force from
the land side, and D’Estaing was to prevent reënforcements by sea.
It appeared certain that the post would be taken. But soon Lord
Howe approached with his fleet, and D’Estaing moved out for action.
In the nick of time one of the most terrific storms ever known came
on and dispersed both fleets. D’Estaing felt compelled to put into
Boston for repairs. While he was there word came that Clinton had
sent five thousand men to relieve the Newport garrison. Lafayette
galloped seventy miles in seven hours to obtain aid from D’Estaing,
but it was too late. The siege had to be raised, and soon D’Estaing
moved off to the West Indies. These movements of the French were
very severely criticised by the Americans, and in consequence, at
one time the French admiral thought seriously of taking his fleet
back to France in disgust. It was only the great tact and skill of
Washington that persuaded him to remain. His going to the West
Indies was not without importance, for Clinton felt obliged to send
five thousand troops for the support of the British in the islands.

198. British Movement on the

South.—The efforts thus far made to
destroy the revolutionary army by striking
at its center having failed, the British
determined in the spring of 1779 upon a
new policy. It was decided to attack the
South, partly for the purpose of bringing
the Southern states completely under their
control, and partly for the purpose of
drawing off a portion of Washington’s army.
In the execution of this plan they had no
difficulty in overrunning Georgia and South
General Anthony Wayne. Carolina, but Washington understood
perfectly well that the temporary loss of the
Southern states would not mean the loss of the cause if the Middle
states and New England could be kept together. He therefore
refused to weaken his grip upon the Hudson. In July, General
Anthony Wayne[91] took by storm the seemingly impregnable position
at Stony Point on the Hudson, in one of the most brilliant assaults of
the war. His fearless dash, which was made at midnight, caused him
to be known as “Mad Anthony.”
CONDITIONS WEST OF THE ALLEGHANIES.

199. British Control in the West.—At the outbreak of the war

the vast region west of the mountains was already the field of much
strife between the Indians and the few settlers that had pushed their
way along the valleys into what was then the far West. The territory
between the mountains and the Mississippi River, a region twice as
large as the German Empire, was still an almost unbroken
wilderness. French settlements had been established at Detroit, at
Vincennes on the Wabash, and at Natchez, Kaskaskia, and Cahokia
on the Mississippi. But these fortified hamlets since the fall of
Quebec had been controlled by British garrisons. Though the region
was thus under British dominion, it was claimed by Massachusetts,
Connecticut, New York, Virginia, Maryland, North and South Carolina,
and Georgia by authority of their original charters. The possession of
the whole region was therefore involved in the war.

200. Settlements in
Tennessee and Kentucky.—
Virginia and North Carolina were
the first to send explorers and
settlers into this distant region.
Before the outbreak of the war,
Daniel Boone[92] had explored
the Kentucky Kiver, and Virginia
surveyors had gone down the
Ohio as far as the present site of
Louisville, which was soon after
Wayne’s Dispatch to Washington.
named in honor of our new ally,
the reigning king of France,
Louis XVI. Virginians entered the country as settlers, and their
sympathy with the revolutionary movement was so intense that they
named one of their principal towns Lexington, in honor of the village
where the first shots had been fired. The pioneers of most influence
in Tennessee were James Robertson and John Sevier, who played a
part as explorers and organizers much like the parts played by
Daniel Boone and James Harrod in Kentucky. In both of these
regions laws were enacted and courts instituted, and when the
Continental Congress met, delegates were sent to it to represent the
interests of the new settlements. The one was called the State of
Transylvania and the other the County of Kentucky.

201. Border Warfare.—The early

years of these settlements were periods of
constant hardship and of strife with the
Indians. Even before the Revolutionary War
broke out, the Indians organized for
systematic resistance. This was the result
partly of outrageous treatment by the white
settlers, and partly of repeated Indian
depredations.

202. Lord Dunmore’s War.—Lord

Dunmore, the last royal governor of
Daniel Boone. Virginia, sent out in 1773 an injudicious
order which led to an outbreak of hostilities
all along the line. The immediate cause of the war was the fiendish
act of a wretch by the name of Greathouse, who decoyed the family
of the friendly Indian chief, Logan, consisting of nine men, women,
and children, into his rum shop, and after getting them intoxicated,
butchered them all in cold blood. The justly outraged Indians rushed
to arms from all quarters. The war which followed was characterized
by the murdering of women and children and the burning of cabins
and wigwams, until it was ended by the decisive battle of Point
Pleasant on the Great Kanawha, on October 10, 1774. The Indians,
commanded by the Shawnee chief, Cornstalk, were utterly defeated
by the settlers under Andrew Lewis, and were glad to secure peace
by surrendering all their claims to lands south of the Ohio.
 203. Warfare in Tennessee.—The westward movement from
North Carolina through the Great Smoky Mountains into the country
now known as Tennessee was also the occasion of numerous
conflicts. In 1770 the settlers had reached the Watauga. Forts were
erected, and the settlement soon assumed a thriving condition. But
conflicts were not long postponed. The most warlike and powerful of
the Southern tribes of Indians were the Cherokees, and on the
outbreak of the Revolution they took sides with the British. The
Indians even advanced into South Carolina and Georgia; but they
were unable to hold their ground, and when in 1776 they attacked
the Watauga settlement, they were so completely defeated by the
troops of Robertson and Sevier that they soon afterward were willing
to make peace. In 1777 they renounced the larger part of their
claims to lands between the Tennessee and the Cumberland. Thus
Tennessee, as well as Kentucky, was secure for the future Union.

204. Organization of Tories and Indians in the Northwest.

—Meanwhile matters of no less importance were occurring on the
northwest frontier. Washington fully understood the necessity of
taking from the British as much as possible of that vast territory
which extends from the Catskills to the Mississippi River, and which
had been made a part of Canada by the Quebec Act (§ 136). This
was by no means an easy task. The Six Nations (§ 3), constituting
the most powerful Indian confederation ever known, were under the
immediate leadership of the greatest of all Indian chiefs, Joseph
Brant, and under the influence of Sir John Johnson, the most
formidable of the Tories. Brant had been liberally educated in Mr.
Wheelock’s School, afterward Dartmouth College, and had even
visited England and had dined with Burke and Sheridan; but his
education seemed only to sharpen his wits and make him the better
able to use the characteristics of other Indians. Though he exerted
his influence to prevent the killing of women and children, as a
strategist he was unequaled among savages, and on the battlefield
he could out-yell any other chief. Throughout the West the Indians
had generally combined with the Tories and the British. Two forces
were now organized, one at Niagara and one at Detroit, for carrying
out their designs.

205. The Wyoming and Cherry Valley Massacres.—In the

summer of 1778 twelve hundred Tories and Iroquois, led by John
Butler, advanced stealthily from Niagara toward the southeast and
fell upon the peaceful inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley in
Pennsylvania. Hundreds of innocent inhabitants were tortured and
scalped, and the horrors of the massacre sent a pang into all parts
of the civilized world. Similar outrages occurred at Cherry Valley and
elsewhere, and every settlement was in danger. Prisoners who
refused to give information were put to torture with ingenious
cruelty.

206. Sullivan’s Expedition.—In order to destroy the power of

the Six Nations and put an end to this savage method of warfare,
Washington decided to send out a strong force in the summer of
1779. The command of the expedition, having been declined by
Gates, devolved upon Sullivan,[93] who had orders to lay waste the
entire country of the Iroquois. The right wing of his army, under
General James Clinton, advanced up the valley of the Mohawk, while
Sullivan himself, with a force of about five thousand men, pushed
into the valley of the Susquehanna. Both forces destroyed the Indian
villages and the growing crops wherever they went. Finally, meeting
the united forces of Johnson, Butler, and Brant near Newtown (now
Elmira), Sullivan achieved a complete victory, August 29.[94]

207. Destruction of the Six Nations.—Sullivan’s forces then

advanced northward in two divisions, burning villages, cutting down
fruit trees, and destroying the growing corn in all directions. After a
successful march of more than seven hundred miles, during which
he not only temporarily, but permanently, through his destruction of
their harvests, broke the power of the Six Nations, Sullivan reached
New Jersey in October. The suffering which resulted to the Indians
from this expedition was greatly increased by the intense cold of the
following winter.[95] The horrors of the
period, however, cannot be understood
without a study of painful and revolting
details. In no part of the country was the
suffering greater than in central and
eastern New York during this contest of
Indians, Tories, and patriots. In Tryon
County the population was reduced to one-
third of its former number, and among
those who remained there are said to have
been three hundred widows and two General John Sullivan.
thousand orphans.
THE CONQUEST OF THE NORTHWEST.

208. George Rogers Clark.—An

expedition of even greater importance had
been undertaken the previous year, still
farther west, by George Rogers Clark.[96]
Colonel Hamilton, commander of the British
at Detroit, had planned a series of
movements with the intention of taking
possession of the whole western region
north of the Ohio. Clark, a Virginian who
had settled in Kentucky, had become
thoroughly acquainted with frontier
manners and methods. In the autumn of
General George Rogers Clark. 1777, he learned of Burgoyne’s surrender.
Divining the importance of the West, he at
once sent scouts throughout the region known as the Illinois
country. As a result of the information thus received, this
adventurous frontiersman, only twenty-five years old, formed the
bold project of conquering from the British the whole of the vast
region extending from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi.
 209. Clark’s Expedition.—Accordingly, having secured
permission from the authorities of Virginia, Clark, taking a force of
one hundred and eighty men, with boats and artillery, started in the
spring of 1778, at Pittsburg, for a voyage down the river to the
junction of the Ohio and Mississippi. He had no difficulty in capturing
Kaskaskia, a small post not very far north of the modern Cairo.
Thence he sent messengers to Vincennes, which agreed to submit to
him. Later, however, he learned that the British under Colonel
Hamilton had retaken the fort. Sending his cannon on a boat to
patrol the Ohio and the Wabash, Clark took his men across Illinois in
a winter’s march, often through mud and water knee deep, and
appeared before Vincennes. The village at once yielded, and the
people united with Clark in assaulting the fort. Hamilton was soon
obliged to surrender with his whole force. By this brilliant expedition,
the frontier was extended to the Mississippi River. The importance of
the movement could hardly be understood at the time, but the
history of the next hundred years revealed it in many very
interesting ways.
THE VICTORIES OF PAUL JONES.

210. Early Condition of the Navy.—Before the war the

Americans had no navy, for there was no national government, and
the individual colonies, under the Navigation Acts, had no
opportunities for the development of foreign trade. Soon after the
outbreak of hostilities, however, Congress provided for arming
vessels, not so much to fight the British warships as to prey upon
British commerce. Franklin, as minister to France after 1778, was
authorized by Congress to commission vessels to scour the waters
for British prizes.

211. The Bon Homme Richard.—The most famous of these

cruisers was a merchant ship that had been hastily fitted up for war
and given the name of Bon Homme Richard. This vessel,
commanded by John Paul Jones,[97] a Scotchman who had
renounced his country and lived some years in America, made havoc
 among the British merchantmen, especially
in the British and Irish Channels and off the
east coast of Scotland. On the 23d of
September, 1779, Jones, with two small
accompanying vessels, met the British
frigate Serapis, with similar support,
convoying a small fleet of merchantmen, off
Flamborough Head. The Serapis was
slightly more powerful than the Richard, but
Jones did not hesitate to attack, and the
result was one of the most obstinate and
bloody battles in all naval history. Jones
Captain John Paul Jones. received no assistance from his attendant
ships, which even fired into the Richard.
After both ships had been partially disabled, Jones ran alongside the
Serapis and lashed them together. From that moment a terrible
battle with canister, musket balls, hand grenades, and cutlasses
went on, until more than half of all the men engaged were either
killed or disabled. The Serapis finally surrendered, but it was
immediately found that the Richard had been so riddled with shot
that it was sinking, and Jones therefore was obliged to transfer his
men to the other vessel. A few hours later the Richard went down.

212. Importance of Jones’s Victory.—This desperate naval

battle was important for two reasons: first, it everywhere gave the
Americans a reputation as sailors; and secondly, it led to an
important international dispute. Jones took the Serapis into a port in
Holland. The British at once demanded that the commander of the
Richard should be given up to be tried as a pirate. The Dutch
refused, on the ground that Jones had done only what the British
had long been doing. This, with some other complications, led to
war between Holland and Great Britain. The English, in
consequence, were then at war with Holland, as well as with
America and France. Spain was also drawn in as the ally of France.
Russia had long been apparently on the point of joining in the
contest, but the Empress Catherine, before taking a final step, wrote
a personal letter of inquiry to Frederick the Great, who advised her
to keep out of the trouble. Thus England, left without a single ally,
found herself confronted by three of the most powerful naval forces
of continental Europe. The united fleets of France and Spain, even
without the help of Holland, were scarcely weaker than the British
fleet, and they at once threatened, while the English were occupied
in America, not only to destroy the commerce of England in the open
seas, but also to recover Gibraltar, and to overwhelm all the English
possessions in the West Indies. The influence of these alliances on
the American war may be inferred from the fact that while in 1779
the British had three hundred and fourteen thousand men under
arms, not a tenth of that number were at any time in America.

References.—The same as at the end of Chapter VI.

[88] Born in Magdeburg, Prussia, 1730; died, 1794.

Fought in the war of the Austrian Succession, also
throughout the Seven Years’ War; received a very
exalted position from Frederick the Great, which he
gave up in 1778 for service in America; was
appointed inspector general, and rendered
invaluable service at Valley Forge and elsewhere in
drilling the American troops; commanded the left
wing at Monmouth; was member of the board
which condemned André; settled in central New
York at the close of the war, and received from
Congress a large grant of land near Utica.
[89] Born in England, 1728; died, 1806. Was captain in
Braddock’s Expedition; was appointed adjutant
general in the colonial army in 1775; superseded
Schuyler as commander of the Northern forces in
1777; conspired to gain the chief command in
1778; placed in command of the Southern army in
1780; was overwhelmingly defeated at Camden;
 was retired from command, and was not acquitted
by court-martial till 1782.
[90] The effect of the evacuation of Philadelphia and the
battle of Monmouth was naturally very
disheartening to the British army. As many as two
thousand of Clinton’s soldiers, chiefly Hessians,
deserted within a week.
[91] Born, 1745; died, 1796. Early became a member of
the Pennsylvania Committee of Public Safety, and
commander of a regiment in the Canadian invasion
of 1775–1776; commanded at Ticonderoga; was
appointed brigadier general, and rendered valuable
service at the Brandywine, at Germantown, and at
Monmouth; stormed Stony Point, July 15, 1779;
suppressed mutiny at Morristown in January, 1781;
rendered important service in Georgia and Virginia
in 1781–1782; was made major general, and
overwhelmed the Indians at Fallen Timbers, 1794,
which led to a treaty of peace with the Indians in
1795.
[92] Born, 1735; died, 1820. Was a daring and skillful
hunter and explorer in North Carolina; went into the
region that is now Kentucky in 1769; became
exceptionally skillful as an Indian fighter;
overwhelmed the Indians at the battle of Blue Licks
in 1782; after countless adventures and hairbreadth
escapes, passed his last days in poverty in Missouri,
though a grant of land was tardily given him by
Congress.
[93] Born in New Hampshire, 1740; died, 1795. Major
general of militia before the war; delegate of New
Hampshire to First Continental Congress; was
appointed brigadier general in 1775; served at siege
of Boston and in expedition into Canada; major
general in 1776; was one of the principal
 commanders at Brooklyn, Trenton, and Princeton;
led the right wing at Brandywine and Germantown;
destroyed the power of the Iroquois in 1779; was
an active Federalist in the New Hampshire
Convention of 1788.
[94] After the battle so many horses and ponies were
slain by Sullivan’s order, that the number of skulls
found at a later period caused the place to be called
Horseheads, the name by which the locality has
ever since been known.
[95] New York Harbor froze over, and cannon and men,
as well as supplies, were freely moved on the ice
between New York, New Jersey, and Staten Island.
[96] Born, 1752; died, 1818. Went from Virginia to
Kentucky in 1775; became a leader against the
hostile Indians and the British; gained the
Northwest for the Union in 1778.
[97] Born, 1747; died, 1792. Came from Scotland to
Virginia shortly before the Revolutionary War;
entered the service of his adopted country with
great enthusiasm; commissioned first lieutenant in
the navy, and made a number of successful cruises;
went to France in 1777, where he was given
command first of the Ranger, and then of the Bon
Homme Richard; he devastated St. George’s
Channel, and finally fought the Serapis; was
thanked by Congress and given a sword by France;
became a rear admiral in the Russian navy, and
died at Paris.
 CHAPTER X.
the campaigns of 1780 and 1781.

THE WAR IN THE SOUTH.

213. Clinton’s Success in the South.—Sir Henry Clinton, even

without a very large force, found it possible to carry out his designs
in the South with energy and success. Leaving Knyphausen a part of
his force to defend New York, he started, December 26, 1779, with
eight thousand men, for the South. Savannah fell into his hands, and
a little later he invested Charleston. General Lincoln made the great
mistake of allowing himself with five thousand men to be shut up in
that city with no means of escape, and accordingly he was forced to
surrender on the 12th of May, 1780, with his whole army. This was
the severest blow the Americans had received. Clinton at once put
Lord Cornwallis in command, after issuing a proclamation,
threatening to deal with all who did not return to allegiance as
traitors and rebels. He then went back to New York. South Carolina
was soon overrun by the troops of Cornwallis, Tarleton, and
Ferguson.

214. Northward Movement of the

British.—The American standards,
however, were kept flying by the heroic
deeds of the partisan generals, Marion and
Sumter. The British advanced northward,
hoping to find very little opposition before
reaching Virginia. Washington
recommended the appointment of Greene
to the command of the Southern army; but
the intriguers were successful, and
Congress recalled Gates from his
retirement, in the hope that the experience
of Burgoyne would be repeated by Lord Cornwallis.
Cornwallis.[98] But in North Carolina there
had been no Schuyler to plan the campaign in advance, and there
was no Arnold or Morgan to assist in carrying it out. Gates revealed
his inefficiency at every step; and when the two armies finally came
together, on the 16th of August, 1780, his troops suffered at
Camden the most disastrous defeat ever inflicted on an American
army. Though the American force was superior to the British, it was
routed, driven in utter confusion from the field, and dispersed. Gates
himself, after committing a succession of gross blunders, crowned
his ignominy by joining in the panic and finally leaving the army to
its fate. In four days he reached Hillsborough, some two hundred
miles away. Thus the worst fears of Washington were fully realized,
and the whole South was practically in the grasp of the British.
Clinton might well suppose the end to be near at hand.
THE TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD.

215. Growth of Arnold’s Disaffection.—As if to complete a

year of disasters, the country received a terrible shock in the treason
of one of its foremost officers. Benedict Arnold, who had been one
of the most skillful, as well as one of the most energetic of
commanders, had been slighted in various ways. Washington had
repeatedly recommended that he be advanced from brigadier to
major general, but Congress promoted five officers of inferior rank
over him. These facts not unnaturally soured his temper, so that he
was inclined to find fault with everything. While he was in this mood
Washington assigned him to the command in Philadelphia, after the
withdrawal of Clinton, where he was noted for luxurious tastes and
extravagant methods of life. Meanwhile he became engaged to
Margaret Shippen, a beautiful daughter of one of the most
prominent Tory families in Philadelphia. Before many months, his
views had drifted completely over to those of the moderate Tory
party. After the surrender of Burgoyne, the British government had
offered the colonies all the constitutional guarantees they had asked
for before the Declaration of Independence, and Arnold, as well as
the Tories generally, believed that these terms should have been
accepted.

216. Charges by Congress against Arnold.—Arnold was

seriously contemplating the advisability of resigning his post, owing
to the hostility of the Executive Council, when charges of peculation
and misconduct were brought against him. Thereupon he promptly
demanded an investigation. He was acquitted, not only by a
committee of Congress, but afterward by a court-martial, of all the
charges excepting two of very trifling importance. But he felt
insulted and persecuted. His hatred of Congress became intense,
and accordingly, in the course of the six months from January to
July, 1780, he devised one of the most infamous schemes in history.
He entered into correspondence with the British commander, for the
purpose of betraying the American cause. His letters, signed
“Gustavus,” were answered by the British adjutant general, Major
John André, over the signature “John Anderson.” But nothing definite
came of the matter until Arnold determined to ask Washington for
the command of West Point, in order that this most important
stronghold in the whole country might be turned over to the enemy
for a good price. His request was granted, and his nefarious plans
came alarmingly near to success.

217. Meeting of Arnold and André.—In September the

agreement had advanced so far that a personal interview between
the officers in correspondence was thought desirable. The British
fleet, temporarily under the command of Admiral Rodney, who had
recently come from the West Indies, showed signs of great activity.
It was the intention at an opportune moment to sail up the Hudson
and make a show of attacking the fort. Arnold was to surrender it,
with only a faint appearance of resistance. The American traitor was
to sell his country for fifty thousand dollars and a commission in the
British army. On the 18th of September, Washington left the fort for
a conference with Rochambeau at Hartford; and this absence
afforded the coveted opportunity. André, ascending the Hudson in
the British ship Vulture to a point near the fort, went ashore and
passed the night with Arnold a few miles below the fortress. After
some delays the agreement was completed, but in returning André
was obliged to cross and go down the river along the eastern shore.

218. Arrest of André.—At Tarrytown, in a strip of neutral

territory between the two armies, he was arrested by three young
men headed by John Paulding. One of the party had on a Hessian
uniform, and when they confronted André, who was clad in citizen’s
dress, he accosted them as friends, supposing they were British.
They immediately declared themselves to be Americans, however,
and roughly ordered him to dismount. Proceeding to search him,
they found the fatal articles of agreement in his boots. As, however,
they were unsigned, Colonel Jameson, to whom the documents and
the prisoner were delivered, decided to forward the papers to
Washington, and to send a message concerning the affair to Arnold.

219. Escape of Arnold.—Washington returned to West Point,

September 25, and received the papers soon after his arrival. The
letter had reached Arnold only in time to enable him to escape by
taking a boat and rowing swiftly down to the British ship which was
awaiting André. When Washington read the documents he burst into
tears, and with choking voice disclosed the affair to Lafayette and
Knox and the other officers about him.

220. André’s Execution.—André was put upon trial by a court-

martial consisting of fourteen officers, including Greene, Steuben,
and Lafayette, and was pronounced guilty. Though every effort was
made by Clinton to save his life, Washington was inflexible, and, on
the morning of October 2, he died upon the gallows the death of a
spy. Though the English have been inclined to dispute the justice of
Washington’s action, the latest and most judicious of British
historians of this period, Mr. Lecky, after a full examination of the
facts, reaches the conclusion that his condemnation was justified by
the usages of war. Benedict Arnold’s treason has properly given his
name an immortality of infamy.
 CAUSES OF DISCOURAGEMENT.

221. Discontent in the Army.—The

treason of Arnold was followed by events in
the army which added to the general
distress and anxiety. The best of the troops
were those that had enlisted during the
hopeful period just after Burgoyne’s
surrender, in 1777. The term of enlistment
was “three years, or during the war.” The
troops claimed that, as the three years
Place of André’s Execution.
would expire at the end of December, they
would then be free. The officers interpreted
the law as meaning that in case the war
should continue more than three years, the soldiers would be bound
to service until its close. The army had many causes of complaint.
Paper money issued by Congress had now become nearly worthless.
With this money Congress was reluctant to pay the troops, but there
was no other. At the end of December many of the regiments had
received no pay for sixteen months, and supplies of clothing and
shoes were so small that when January approached, many soldiers
were barefooted and in rags. The winter of 1780–1781 saw scarcely
less suffering than did the winter at Valley Forge.

222. Spirit of Mutiny.—On New Year’s Day, 1781, thirteen

hundred Pennsylvania troops claimed that their time had expired,
and, seizing six field-pieces, set out for Philadelphia to secure their
rights from Congress. After much parleying, Congress, through its
president, promised to give them certificates of indebtedness and
their formal discharge. Thus it was settled that the men who had
enlisted on the ambiguous terms might go when the three years had
expired. By this decision Washington’s army not only lost its best
troops, but was agitated by the mutinous spirit of others who were
tempted to try the same method. On the 20th of January a part of
the New Jersey troops mutinied without any adequate reason, and
were not subdued until they were met by a brigade of troops from
Massachusetts. The insurgents were soon brought to order, and two
of the ringleaders were shot by Washington’s command. Thus came
to a close the most discouraging year of the whole war.

223. Discouragements at the Beginning of 1781.—The

disasters that had come to the Americans in 1780 gave the British
many reasons to hope for a successful end of the contest in the
summer of 1781. After the defeat of Gates at Camden there was a
reasonable prospect that Cornwallis, having completely established
British authority in the farther South, would be able to overrun
Virginia and then unite with Clinton in overwhelming Washington.
This feeling received encouragement from the discontented state of
the American army, but in their predictions the British greatly
underrated the ingenuity and the resources of the American
commander in chief. Congress, which had chosen to disregard
Washington’s former recommendation by sending Gates to the
South, was now, late in 1780, when there was only a forlorn hope of
success, quite willing that the commander should designate the
general to meet Cornwallis. Washington selected Greene, the man
he had recommended the year before. The latter did not reach
Charlotte in North Carolina until the 2d of December; but he found
that much had already been done by Marion, Sumter, and Morgan to
counteract the effects of disaster and to keep alive the patriotic
spirit.
 Map of Operations in the South, 1780–1781

AMERICAN SUCCESSES IN THE SOUTH.

224. Victory at King’s Mountain.—Soon after the defeat of

Gates at Camden, in the summer of 1780, Cornwallis had begun a
northward movement. He sent on in advance two divisions: one
under Ferguson, with about fourteen hundred men, and one under
Tarleton,[99] with about the same number. Ferguson soon found that
patriots had arisen on every side. Enterprising hunters and
backwoodsmen had come from all parts of the North and West, as
well as from the neighboring regions, until nearly three thousand
were in the path of his progress. Thwarted at every step, he was
finally obliged to look for a way of retreat. His messengers to
Cornwallis and his scouts were everywhere shot down as fast as
they were sent out. His force was finally brought to bay on the top
of King’s Mountain, where after desperate fighting it was compelled
to surrender, October 7. As a result of this battle, in which Ferguson
was killed and nearly four hundred men were lost, Cornwallis was
obliged to fall back to Winnsborough.

225. Victory at Cowpens.—Against

the force of Tarleton, Greene sent General
Daniel Morgan,[100] who had already shown
great ability at Quebec, at Trenton, and at
Saratoga. The forces of Tarleton and
Morgan were about equal. The American
commander chose, as a spot for the battle,
an open plain where cattle had been
herded, called the “Cowpens.” The British,
though wearied after a difficult march of
five hours, decided to advance at once to a
front attack. The first volleys of the
Americans caused the enemy’s line to
Colonel Tarleton.
stagger and fall back. As the British came
on a second time to the charge, Colonel
Washington, a relative of the commander in chief, who led the
cavalry, swept around the American left and struck the British in the
flank. At this moment the Continentals rushed forward in a bayonet
charge with irresistible force. The British were obliged to give way at
every point, losing two hundred and thirty killed and wounded and
about six hundred prisoners. Tarleton escaped with difficulty. The
Americans lost only twelve killed and sixty-one wounded. The battle
of the Cowpens, fought January 17, 1781, was the most brilliant
American victory of the war, as Camden had been the most
disastrous defeat.

226. Morgan’s Race with Cornwallis.—Morgan, having now

destroyed Tarleton’s force, at once set out to rejoin Greene, but, in
order to do so, he had to run a race with Cornwallis for the fords of
the Catawba River. Though the British commander had the shorter
course, Morgan pushed on with so much greater speed that he was
the first to cross and thus was able to rejoin the main army.
 227. Battle of Guilford Court House.
—Greene now determined, before fighting a
decisive battle, to draw his enemies as far
as possible away from their supplies.
Sending on a part of his force in advance
and placing himself in command of the rear,
he kept near enough to Cornwallis to lure
him on without giving him an opportunity
for a decisive battle. At length, on February
9, the American forces united at Guilford
Court House, only about thirty miles south
General Daniel Morgan.
of the Virginia border, and here Greene,
after a delay of about one month, during
which he received reënforcements, selected ground for a battle.
Though the British had a smaller force, they were veterans, while
the larger part of Greene’s army was composed of recent recruits. In
the battle which occurred on the 15th of March, the British had the
advantage, but they lost so heavily that Cornwallis did not dare to
pursue the defeated army. In order to reëstablish his
communications with supplies, he moved southeast for the port at
Wilmington.

228. Greene’s Recovery of the South.—Greene followed him

rapidly until they were near the coast. Then Greene struck into the
South for the purpose of reëstablishing his authority throughout the
Carolinas. His march was not resisted with any success. September
8, after a masterly campaign extending over six months, he fought
and won the last battle of the series, at Eutaw Springs, about fifty
miles from Charleston. Thus, within little more than a year after the
disastrous defeat of Gates at Camden, the brilliant campaign of
Greene drove Cornwallis into Wilmington and the remaining British
forces in the South into Charleston, and had practically cleared the
intervening country of the enemy.
THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.
 229. Movement of Cornwallis from Wilmington.—
Cornwallis, however, did not long remain on the coast. As soon as he
had refreshed his army, he attempted, with the help of Arnold, to
overrun Virginia. Reaching Petersburg on the 20th of May, he was
able, within a short time, to take and pillage the more important
towns of Virginia, including Petersburg, Richmond, Charlottesville,
Portsmouth, and Williamsburg. To meet these raiders, Washington
sent Lafayette with an army of Americans and French, amounting to
about five thousand men. The French commander, though only
twenty-three years of age, had learned from Washington the art of
harassing the enemy without bringing on a general engagement.
Cornwallis now had a little more than seven thousand men. After
trying in vain to bring Lafayette to battle, and to get reënforcements
from Clinton, he followed Clinton’s instructions by withdrawing his
force to Yorktown, in order to put himself in communication with the
British fleet. This was the fatal move that resulted in the loss of the
British cause.

230. Plans of Washington and Rochambeau.—Two days

after the British reached Petersburg, Washington had an important
conference with Rochambeau at Wethersfield, Connecticut. There, it
was decided to send to the West Indies for Commodore de Grasse
and such ships of the French fleet as could be spared from that
region. The purpose was to combine the French and Americans,
either to make a joint attack upon New York, or, by a sudden
movement toward the South, to overwhelm Cornwallis. De Grasse
was to choose and to report whether he would go to New York, or
would stop at the Chesapeake.

231. Plan of the Yorktown Campaign.—In due time,

Washington learned that De Grasse had chosen the Southern
destination, and accordingly he began at once to maneuver his force
so as to lead Clinton to suppose that the purpose was a general
attack on New York. He ordered all preparations to be made in New
Jersey as though he intended a siege, even sending misleading
dispatches, which he planned to have the British capture. So skillfully
was this done, that even when
the army began to move from
the Hudson, the British believed
it was for the purpose of a
general attack upon the city
from New Jersey and Staten
Island. The secret of the
movement was confined to the
French and American
commanders. Washington
evidently believed with Franklin,
that three persons can keep a
secret only when one of them is
dead. On the 19th of August,
leaving a strong guard along the
Operations at Yorktown
front line, the French and
American armies commenced
their Southern march. So skillfully had all plans been arranged, that
Clinton learned of the movement only after the Americans had
reached Philadelphia, nearly a hundred miles away. He attempted a
diversion by an attack upon Connecticut, but it was impossible to
retard the march, or distract the attention of Washington. The British
could not follow without abandoning New York to Heath, who had
been left with four thousand men on the Hudson.

232. Movement of De Grasse.—De Grasse, with a larger fleet

even than had been anticipated, reached the Chesapeake on the day
when Washington reached Philadelphia. The French admiral at once
landed three thousand troops and turned them over to Lafayette,
whose army was thus increased to about eight thousand men. The
French general, knowing that Washington was not far away, threw
his lines boldly across the peninsula, September 7, thus shutting
Cornwallis completely in. The British now saw the James on the one
side, the York River on the other, with De Grasse in the rear, and
Lafayette in front. Their condition was hopeless.
 233. Surrender of Cornwallis.—Though a few British ships
reached the scene from the north, they were too weak to cope with
the fleet of De Grasse, and there was, therefore, no possible escape.
To break through the American lines was impossible, as Cornwallis
was now confronted by an army more than twice the size of his own.
The siege and bombardment began at once. The cannonade was
continued for some days with terrific energy, till the British
ammunition began to fail. The outworks were carried by an assault
in two divisions,—one of Americans and the other of Frenchmen.
The Americans, led by Alexander Hamilton, were the first to cross
the British ramparts. This was on the 14th of October. On the 17th,
just four years after the surrender of Burgoyne, Cornwallis hoisted
the white flag. As soon as the preliminaries could be settled, seven
thousand two hundred and forty-seven soldiers became prisoners of
war.

234. Influence of the Surrender on the British

Government.—The surrender of Cornwallis was virtually the end of
this long and memorable contest, for it put enthusiastic life into the
Americans, while it overwhelmed the British government with
confusion. Those English statesmen who had opposed the war from
the first so strengthened their following that they were able to
sweep the king’s friends out of power and bring in a government
that sympathized with their views. The king himself, though driven
almost to despair by this stupendous event, was the last to
recognize its real significance; but at length even George III. saw
that with a war on his hands against France, Spain, and Holland, his
American project, so dear to his heart, must now be given up. A new
ministry, with Lord Rockingham at its head, was brought in to
negotiate terms of peace.

235. Difficulties in making Peace.—There were long delays

and many difficulties in arranging terms. These were greatly
complicated by the fact that America had France as an ally, and
France had to be consulted in regard to all the conditions. Congress
had no money with which to pay off the soldiers, and no power to
raise money in the individual states. Discontent among the rank and
file threatened to end in the most serious revolts. Nothing but the
infallible tact and skill of Washington prevented mutiny. The
commander in chief, however, was inflexible in his determination that
the forces should be kept up until the treaty was finally adopted.
That painful period of distress and waiting at length came to an end,
but it was not until September 3, 1783, nearly two years after the
surrender at Yorktown, that the treaty was signed at Paris. By that
act Great Britain acknowledged the independence of the country
from Canada to the Floridas, and from the Atlantic to the Mississippi.
The conquest of the West was thus admitted, but the northern
boundary was left rather vague, owing to defective knowledge of the
region.

236. Treatment of Tories.—The Americans made the mistake

of refusing to grant amnesty to the adherents of the defeated party,
as should always be done in civil war. The patriots, or Whigs, as they
were often called, continued to persecute the Tories. Many were put
to death, and thousands were obliged to flee into Canada and Nova
Scotia, where their descendants still remember with bitterness the
treatment of their ancestors.

237. Causes of Success.—The success of the Revolutionary

War was mainly due to five causes:—
1. The unfailing courage, wisdom, and ability of Washington.
Even in the darkest hours his confidence in the final issue never
faltered. By the wisdom and persuasiveness of the letters which he
sent to governors, members of Congress, and prominent men in all
parts of the country, he inspired others with something of his own
confidence and multiplied the friends of independence. His
extraordinary military skill in knowing when to fight and when not to
fight, enabled him to take advantage of the mistakes of the enemy
and to strike a blow whenever he could hurt the cause of the British
or inspire his own army with new courage.
2. The alliance and support of the French. Until the Yorktown
campaign the active assistance of the French in the field was very
slight, but the moral support was most important. While it inspired
the Americans with new courage, it had a corresponding effect in
disheartening the British, who had to fight the French in other parts
of the world. But for De Grasse, the Yorktown campaign would
probably not have been attempted; for, if attempted, Cornwallis
could easily have been supported and relieved by the British fleet.
3. The weakness of the British commanders in the field. Gage,
Howe, Burgoyne, Clinton, and Cornwallis were all greatly inferior to
Washington and Greene.
4. The British, toward the end of the conflict, had four very
important wars on their hands, so that they found it impossible to
send large reënforcements to their armies in America.
5. The persistent spirit of the American patriots. Though often
defeated, and sometimes much disheartened, they stubbornly
refused to give up. Even in the dark days of 1780, when the South
was overwhelmed and overrun, they never regarded the cause as
lost. It was this spirit which made it possible for Washington to keep
a force in the field large enough to prevent the complete success of
the British.

References.—The same as at the end of Chapter VI.

[98] Born, 1737; died, 1806. Served in the Seven Years’

War; favored the Americans during the preliminary
discussions in Parliament; was made lieutenant
general, and sent to America in 1776; fought at
Long Island; was defeated at Princeton; decided the
victory by a flank movement at the Brandywine;
served at Germantown and Monmouth;
overwhelmed Gates at Camden, 1780; defeated
Greene at Guilford Court House, 1781; was so
outgeneralled that he practically lost the South and
retreated into Virginia, where he was overwhelmed
by Lafayette and Washington at Yorktown, 1781;
 was governor general in India, 1786–1793; was lord
lieutenant of Ireland, 1798–1801; is properly
considered the ablest of the British generals in the
Revolutionary War.
[99] Born, 1754; died, 1833. Came to America, 1776; in
1779, as lieutenant colonel, organized in South
Carolina a troop known as the “British” or
“Tarleton’s Legion”; waged with it very effective
partisan warfare; served with great success at
Camden; defeated by Morgan at the Cowpens,
1781; made a raid in Virginia, 1781; returned to
England and served many years in Parliament;
knighted (Sir Banastre Tarleton), 1818.
[100] Born, 1736; died, 1802. Fought in the French and
Indian Wars; led a company of Virginia riflemen at
Boston; after release from imprisonment in Arnold’s
expedition against Quebec, gained great distinction
at Saratoga under Gates; resigned in 1779, but
rejoined the army in 1780 as brigadier general;
gained victory at Cowpens; was congressman from
Virginia in 1797.
Land Claims of the Thirteen Original States
in 1783
 CHAPTER XI.
the articles of confederation and the constitution.

DIFFICULTIES OF CONFEDERATION.

238. Chaotic Condition at the Outbreak of the War.—As

soon as the Declaration of Independence was adopted, the members
of Congress saw that some form of general government would be
necessary to bind the different parts of the country into common
methods. Several of the states now had the advantage of regularly
constituted governments; but the Continental Congress was without
authority from any source whatever. Its members had been sent
together by the different states without any mutual understanding or
instructions, and consequently it had no power, except that of war,
to enforce its acts.

239. Committee to frame Articles of Confederation.—On

the day after the committee was appointed to frame the Declaration,
a still larger committee was charged with the duty of preparing some
plan of confederation. The difficulties met by this committee were
almost insurmountable. The colonies were at that moment engaged
in the work of framing permanent constitutions for themselves. Nor
did the common cause of the war entirely sweep away the jealous
differences between the states. The colonies had been settled by
people of differing religious and political beliefs, and they had
preferences for differing methods. The smaller colonies feared they
would be absorbed, and the larger ones feared they would not have
proper representation. The same spirit which made them desire to
be free from the rule of the mother country made each state
unwilling to be subject to the rule of the other states. As the
Declaration of Independence had been aimed against the central
authority of Great Britain, it was natural that they should distrust a
strong central authority in the government they were about to
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