thout pay, but he was soon
appointed a major-general.

When it had come to be July of this year, there was some fighting in
the North, for the British General Burgoyne came down from Canada. He
intended to meet the army under Howe which was marching northward, and
the two armies were to sweep everything before them. Burgoyne defeated
the Americans led by General Philip Schuyler, in several battles. Just
at this time General Schuyler's command was given to General Gates. Now
Gates followed the plans that had been made by Schuyler, with the result
that Burgoyne and his entire force of 6,000 men surrendered at Saratoga.
This settled one branch of the British army. The other branch, under
General Howe, took possession of Philadelphia, but the defeat of
Burgoyne at Saratoga put an end to their hopes of sweeping everything
before them.

In the last month of the year, Washington and his army took up winter
quarters at Valley Forge so as to keep a close watch upon the British
in Philadelphia.

CHAPTER XXIX

NEW YORK a PRISON-HOUSE

The winter passed, and when the spring came the British army moved
from Philadelphia to New York City, but not without great trouble, for
Washington's army fought them every step of the way across New Jersey.

The city was now quite different from the flourishing town it had been
before the war. Held possession of by the British, it was a military
camp. No improvements were made. Many of the citizens who were loyal to
the American cause had fled. Those who were too poor to leave pretended
to favor the British, but as little business could be done, they could
find no work, and their condition became worse daily. Thousands of
American prisoners were brought here, making it a British prison-house,
and every building of any size was a guard-house, every cellar a
dungeon.

[Illustration: Old Sugar-House in Liberty Street, the Prison-House of
the Revolution.]

One of the gloomiest of these prisons was an old sugar-house close by
the Middle Dutch Church. It was built in the days of Jacob Leisler,
with thick stone walls five stories high, pierced with small windows.
The ceilings were so low and the windows so small that the air could
scarcely find entrance. Underneath was a black and dismal cellar. The
pale and shrunken faces of prisoners filled the openings at the windows
by day and by night, seeking a breath of air. They were so jammed
together that there was by no means room at the wind