Disease in a
dozen forms was always present, and every morning the living were forced
to carry out those who had died over night.
During this year 1778, and for several years after, the war was carried
on for the most part in the South, in Georgia and South Carolina, while
the British soldiers in the city made trips into the surrounding country
and laid it waste. Washington and his army in New Jersey could do little
more than watch.
In the year 1780 the American cause came very near receiving a serious
check, when an officer high in rank turned traitor. This man was
Benedict Arnold, and had been a vigorous fighter. But now he bargained
with the British to turn over to them West Point, where he was chief in
command. Major John Andre, a brilliant young officer under the British
General Clinton, was sent to make the final arrangements. Andre was
returning to New York when he was captured with the plans of West Point
concealed in his boots. He was hanged as a spy, and Arnold, escaping to
the British in New York, fought with them, despised by the Americans and
mistrusted by the English; for a traitor can never be truly liked or
respected even by those who benefit by his treachery.
The War of the Revolution went on until the fall of the year 1781, when
General Washington made a sudden move that drew his men away from the
vicinity of New York before the British army could foresee it.
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