ilitia as could be collected,
Washington hoped would be sufficient to save the fort. Before they
could form a junction, however, and reach their destination,
Cornwallis appeared before it. A defence against such superior force
was hopeless. The works were abandoned; they were taken possession of
by the enemy who proceeded to destroy them. After the destruction had
been accomplished, the reinforcements from the North, so long and so
anxiously expected, and so shamefully delayed, made their appearance.
"Had they arrived but ten days sooner," writes Washington to his
brother, "it would, I think, have put it in my power to save Fort
Mifflin, which defended the chevaux-de-frise, and consequently have
rendered Philadelphia a very ineligible situation for the enemy this
winter."

The evil which Washington had so anxiously striven to prevent had now
been effected. The American vessels stationed in the river had lost
all protection. Some of the galleys escaped past the batteries of
Philadelphia in a fog, and took refuge in the upper part of the
Delaware; the rest were set on fire by their crews and abandoned.
Washington advised the navy board, now that the enemy had the command
of the river, to have all the American frigates scuttled and sunk
immediately. The board objected to sinking them, but said they should
be ballasted and plugged, ready to be sunk in case of attack.
Washington warned them that an attack would be sudden, so as to get
possession of them before they could be sunk or destroyed;--his advice
and warning were unheeded; the consequence will hereafter be shown.

CHAPTER XLVIII.
THE ARMY ON THE SCHUYLKILL.--AT VALLEY FORGE.--THE CONWAY CABAL.

On the evening of the 24th of November Washington reconnoitred,
carefully and thoughtfully, the lines and defences about Philadelphia,
from the opposite side of the Schuylkill. His army was now
considerably reinforced; the garrison was weakened by the absence of a
large body of troops under Lord Cornwallis in the Jerseys. Some of the
general officers thought this an advantageous moment for an attack
upon the city. Such was the opinion of Lord Stirling, and especially
of General Wayne, Mad Anthony, as he was familiarly called, always
eager for some daring enterprise. The recent victory at Saratoga had
dazzled the public mind and produced a general impatience for
something equally striking and effective in this quarter. With an
anxious eye Washington scrutinized the