ample, to his letters of Oct. 11, 1776; of Nov.
19, 1776; of Dec. 6, 1776; of Jan. 8, 1777; of March 20, 1777; of
March 28, 1777; of June 20, 1777; besides the letters cited in the
text.

[281] _Writings of Washington_, iv. 330.

[282] Sparks, _Corr. Rev._ i. 361, 362.

[283] _Jour. Va. House Del._ 61.

CHAPTER XIV

GOVERNOR A SECOND TIME

Patrick Henry's second term as governor extended from the 28th of
June, 1777, to the 28th of June, 1778: a twelvemonth of vast and even
decisive events in the struggle for national independence,--its awful
disasters being more than relieved by the successes, both diplomatic
and military, which were compressed within that narrow strip of time.
Let us try, by a glance at the chief items in the record of that year,
to bring before our eyes the historic environment amid which the
governor of Virginia then wrought at his heavy tasks: July 6, 1777,
American evacuation of Ticonderoga at the approach of Burgoyne; August
6, defeat of Herkimer by the British under St. Leger; August 16,
Stark's victory over the British at Bennington; September 11, defeat
of Washington at Brandywine; September 27, entrance of the British
into Philadelphia; October 4, defeat of Washington at Germantown;
October 16, surrender of Burgoyne and his entire army; December 11,
Washington's retirement into winter quarters at Valley Forge; February
6, 1778, American treaty of alliance with France; May 11, death of
Lord Chatham; June 13, Lord North's peace commissioners propose to
Congress a cessation of hostilities; June 18, the British evacuate
Philadelphia; June 28, the battle of Monmouth.

The story of the personal life of Patrick Henry during those stern and
agitating months is lighted up by the mention of his marriage, on the
9th of October, 1777, to Dorothea Dandridge, a granddaughter of the
old royal governor, Alexander Spotswood,--a lady who was much younger
than her husband, and whose companionship proved to be the solace of
all the years that remained to him on earth.

The pressure of official business upon him can hardly have been less
than during the previous year. The General Assembly was in session
from the 20th of October, 1777, until the 24th of January, 1778, and
from the 4th of May to the 1st of June, 1778,--involving, of course, a
long strain of attention by the governor to the work of the two
houses. Moreover, the prominence of Virginia among the States, and, at
the same time, her exe