attle raged fiercely for hours.

When everything was obscured by the blinding smoke, the flag staff of
the fort was cut away by a cannon ball. It had scarcely fallen, when
Sergeant William Jasper sprang through one of the embrasures, caught up
the flag, climbed the wall amid a frightful fire, waved it defiantly at
the enemy, fastened it to a pike, fixed it in place, and then coolly
leaped down among his comrades.

[Illustration: THE STATUE OF LIBERTY ON GOVERNOR'S ISLAND, IN NEW YORK
HARBOR. (Presented to the United States by Bartholdi.)]

That night Admiral Parker withdrew his fleet, having lost more than two
hundred in killed and wounded, while of the Americans only ten had been
killed and twenty-nine wounded. The triumph of the patriots was
absolute, and General Lee in a letter to Washington wrote that he was
enraptured by the coolness and bravery of the defenders. In honor of the
gallant conduct of Colonel Moultrie, the fort was given his name, and
the whole country was inspired by what was certainly one of the most
remarkable achievements of the Revolution.

AN UNSATISFACTORY SITUATION.

The progress of the war, however, was less satisfactory in the North. On
the same day that the British attacked Fort Moultrie, a part of the
fleet from Nova Scotia appeared off Sandy Hook, with the purpose of
attacking the city. Before Lee left for the South, he expressed the
opinion that no fleet could capture it, but Washington, after arriving
and inspecting the defenses, failed to share his confidence, and
strengthened the works in every way possible.

Believing Governor's Island a place of strategic importance, General
Putnam had seized it before the arrival of Washington, and threw up a
number of breastworks, occupying also Red Hook on Long Island. Then
Paulus Hook (now Jersey City) was fortified and hulks were sunk in the
channel between Governor's Island and the Battery. The erection of Fort
Lee, up the Hudson, was begun during the summer, on the Palisades, while
Fort Washington was built on the New York side. By the time the fleet
arrived, about a hundred cannon and mortars were ready for service.

GENERAL HOWE'S FIRST MOVE.

Governor Tryon, formerly of North Carolina, was now Governor of New York
and a bitter Tory. There were thousands who thought like him, and they
welcomed General Howe, whose intention was to land on Long Island, but
the strong defenses of the Americans caused him to disembark his troops
on