e the victory of Howe on Long Island was obtained, Congress
had declared the Independence of the American States, (4th July,
1776.) This Declaration of Independence took the English nation by
surprise, and firmly united it against the colonies. It was received
by the Americans, in every section of the country, with unbounded
enthusiasm. Reconciliation was now impossible, and both countries were
arrayed against each other in fierce antagonism.

The remainder of the campaign of 1776 was occupied by the belligerents
in skirmishing, engagements, marchings and countermarchings, in the
states of New York and New Jersey. The latter state was overrun by the
English army, and success, on either side, was indecisive. Forts
Washington and Lee were captured. General Lee was taken prisoner. The
capture of Lee, however, was not so great a calamity as it, at first,
seemed; for, though a man of genius and military experience, his
ambition, vanity, and love of glory would probably have led to an
opposition to his superior officer, and to Congress itself. To
compensate for the disasters in New Jersey, Washington, invested with
new and extraordinary power by Congress, gained the battles of
Princeton and Trenton, which were not only brilliant victories, but
were attended by great moral effects, and showed the difficulty of
subduing a people determined to be free. "Every one applauded the
firmness, the prudence, and the bravery of Washington. All declared
him to be the savior of his country; all proclaimed him equal to the
most renowned commanders of antiquity, and especially distinguished
him by the name of the _American Fabius_."

The greatness of Washington was seen, not so much by his victories at
Princeton and Trenton, or by his masterly retreat before superior
forces, as by his admirable prudence and patience during the
succeeding winter. He had, for several months, a force which scarcely
exceeded fifteen hundred men, and these suffered all manner of
hardships and privations. After the first gush of enthusiasm had
passed, it was found exceedingly difficult to enlist men, and still
more difficult to pay those who had enlisted. Congress, composed of
great men, and of undoubted patriotism, on the whole, harmonized with
the commander-in-chief, whom, for six months, it invested with almost
dictatorial power; still there were some of its members who did not
fully appreciate the character or condition of Washington, and threw
great difficu