Halifax the previously given sealed orders from the
several ship captains and had designated Rhode Island as the new
destination, a frigate brought the again changed instruction to fix as
rendezvous the lighthouse of Sandy Hook.

The joy of immediate landing after so long a voyage, which had even
become highly disagreeable towards the close, was now gone. The various
changes as to their destination, the unfavorable weather, poor sailing
vessels, which oftentimes had to be taken in tow by the war vessels, and
the difficulty to keep together such a fleet, always in danger of
hostile attack, all combined to lengthen the voyage to 100 days, which
was even at that time very rare, and now could be of incalculable
advantage to the cause of the Americans. With an unfavorable wind the
fleet started; the eyes of everybody were directed to the green coast
and the undulating hilly background. During the night the sharp glow of
the Halifax lighthouse accompanied the troops, until, like a star
gradually fading away, it at last disappeared from view.

On the evening of the 8th of July the fleet halted. The ship Spring had,
by means of a signal of distress and four cannon shots, indicated that
it was in the greatest danger. All men-of-war approached it. They
learned that the sailors had mutinied, whereupon these were arrested,
and then exchanged for others. With a changeable wind the fleet
continued, now tacking, now sailing. To one of the ships the
threatening, gigantic cone of a water spout approached, yet it escaped
the danger of being overcome by its great deluge of water; elsewhere the
so-called St. Elmo's Fire appeared at the tops of the masts, feared as
an apparition of a warning spirit; then on the night of the 11th to the
12th of July the sky and the ocean met, the spectacle of a most fearful
thunder storm. The ships kept at a great distance from each other, drew
in their sails, and while generally on the commodore's ship the light
signal was burning, now on all ships the lanterns could be seen unlit,
vibrating in the deepest darkness; the clouds at night gave forth a most
violent hailstorm; the terrible waves roared and piled themselves up
into great fiery-looking mountains, the lightning flashed and quivered
in the air, now and then splintering the top of a mast. With thunder on
all sides and fearful in the expectation of the approaching storm, the
soldiers sank down in silent resignation and the crew remained during
the w