sfaction that the colonies
abounded in materials and resources requisite for building up a naval
force; and in some of the colonies vessels were arming. Richard Henry
Lee, in a letter to Mrs. McCauley, of England, compared America on the
sea, in that year, to "Hercules in his cradle." The American navy was
indeed "nursed in the whirlwind and cradled in the storm."

The British army at Boston, admonished by the scenes of Lexington,
Concord, and Bunker's Hill, and finding their position more and more
restricted by Washington's lines of fortification, remained in gloomy
inaction until March, 1776, when Sir William Howe, who had succeeded
General Gage, evacuated that city, and sailed with the troops and many
unhappy tory refugees to Halifax.

The American army proceeded to New York. Early in July, 1776, Sir
William Howe with his army landed on Staten Island. The commander of the
fleet was Lord Howe, brother of Sir William, and these two were
constituted commissioners for restoring peace. In the battle of Long
Island, which occurred on the twenty-seventh of August, the American
army, inferior in number, and without cavalry, fought confusedly and
badly, and was defeated with heavy loss, variously estimated. Among the
prisoners was Major-General Sullivan. The enemy's loss was by no means
inconsiderable. From the commencement of the battle on the morning of
the twenty-seventh till the morning of the twenty-ninth, Washington
never slept, and was almost incessantly on horseback. The disastrous
result of this action cast a gloom over the cause of independence,
elated disaffection, and damped the ardor of the American troops. The
militia in large numbers quit the camp and went home; and Washington was
obliged to confess his "want of confidence in the generality of the
troops." He urged upon congress the necessity of a permanent army. On
the fifteenth of September he was compelled to evacuate New York, with
the loss of his heavy artillery and a large part of his stores, and
General Howe took possession of the city.

In a skirmish on Haerlem Heights, a detachment of the third Virginia
regiment, which had arrived on the preceding day, formed the advanced
party in the attack, and Major Leitch, while intrepidly leading them on,
fell mortally wounded.

In accordance with Washington's solicitation congress made arrangements
to put the army on a better footing. To obviate the movements of the
enemy he moved his forces up the Hudson Riv