antry of the defense: "We never had such a
drubbing in our lives," one of them testified. Only one of Parker's ten
ships was seaworthy after the fight. It took him three weeks to refit,
and not until the 4th of August did his defeated ships reach New York.

A mighty armada of seven hundred ships had meanwhile sailed into the
Bay of New York. This fleet was commanded by Admiral Lord Howe and it
carried an army of thirty thousand men led by his younger brother, Sir
William Howe, who had commanded at Bunker Hill. The General was an able
and well-informed soldier. He had a brilliant record of service in the
Seven Years' War, with Wolfe in Canada, then in France itself, and in
the West Indies. In appearance he was tall, dark, and coarse. His face
showed him to be a free user of wine. This may explain some of his
faults as a general. He trusted too much to subordinates; he was
leisurely and rather indolent, yet capable of brilliant and rapid
action. In America his heart was never in his task. He was member of
Parliament for Nottingham and had publicly condemned the quarrel with
America and told his electors that in it he would take no command. He
had not kept his word, but his convictions remained. It would be to
accuse Howe of treason to say that he did not do his best in America.
Lack of conviction, however, affects action. Howe had no belief that his
country was in the right in the war and this handicapped him as against
the passionate conviction of Washington that all was at stake which made
life worth living.

The General's elder brother, Lord Howe, was another Whig who had no
belief that the war was just. He sat in the House of Lords while his
brother sat in the House of Commons. We rather wonder that the King
should have been content to leave in Whig hands his fortunes in America
both by land and sea. At any rate, here were the Howes more eager
to make peace than to make war and commanded to offer terms of
reconciliation. Lord Howe had an unpleasant face, so dark that he was
called "Black Dick"; he was a silent, awkward man, shy and harsh in
manner. In reality, however, he was kind, liberal in opinion, sober, and
beloved by those who knew him best. His pacific temper towards America
was not due to a dislike of war. He was a fighting sailor. Nearly twenty
years later, on June 1, 1794, when he was in command of a fleet in touch
with the French enemy, the sailors watched him to find any indication
that the expected actio