the militia to 6000 men, fought a gallant but
losing action with the British, and withdrew to the mainland.

CHAPTER XIX.

The British Move Upon the South--Spain Accedes to the Alliance Against
England--Secret Convention Between France and Spain--Capture of Stony
Point--John Paul Jones--The Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis--A
Thrilling Naval Combat--Wretched Condition of American Finances--
Franklin's Heavy Burden--The Treason of Benedict Arnold--Capture of
Andre--Escape of Arnold--Andre Executed as a Spy--Sir Henry Clinton
Captures Charleston, General Lincoln and His Army--Lord Cornwallis Left
in Command in the South--The British Defeat Gates Near Camden, South
Carolina--General Nathaniel Greene Conducts a Stubborn Campaign Against
Cornwallis--The Latter Retreats Into Virginia--Siege of Yorktown--
Cornwallis Surrenders--"Oh, God; it is All Over!"

Toward the close of 1778, the British undertook to conquer the Southern
States, beginning with Georgia, where an expedition by sea would be
within reach of aid from the British troops occupying Florida. The
American forces in Georgia were weak in numbers, and although bravely led
by General Robert Howe, they were unable to resist the British. Savannah
fell, and Georgia passed under the rule of the invaders, the royal
governor being reinstated. To counterbalance this discouragement news
arrived from Europe early in 1779 that Spain had acceded to the
Franco-American combination against England. Spain, unlike France, sent
no troops to America to assist the patriots, although the hostile
attitude of the Spaniards toward Great Britain, and the capture of the
British post of St. Joseph by a Spanish expedition from St. Louis, in
1781, aided in strengthening the American cause in the West, and making
the British less aggressive in that direction.

Recent disclosures have shown that the secret convention between France
and Spain, at this time, was in no sense hostile to American interests,
as at first asserted and afterward intimated by the historian Bancroft.
On the contrary, Spain bound herself not to lay down arms until the
independence of the United States should be recognized by Great Britain,
while the condition that Spanish territory held by England should be
restored to Spain did not militate against the territorial claims of the
United States. It was clearly better for the United States, looking
forward to future expansion, that adjoining territory should be held