SCONTENTS IN THE
ARMY--PROPOSITION TO MAKE WASHINGTON KING--HIS REBUKE--PEACE
MOVEMENTS--WASHINGTON'S CAUTION--JUNCTION OF THE FRENCH AND AMERICAN
ARMIES--EVACUATION OF SAVANNAH AND CHARLESTON.

We have observed, that with the capture of Cornwallis and his army, the
War for Independence was virtually ended, but that some blood flowed
afterward, and that hostile forces were arrayed against each other for
several months longer, before the two nations agreed to fight no more.
Let us take a brief survey of events, from the siege of Yorktown until
the declaration of peace, and the departure of the last British troops
from our shores.

On the evening of the ninth of October, just as Lincoln, having
completed the first parallel before Yorktown, ordered a battery to open
upon the British works, Washington received encouraging intelligence
from General Greene in the far South. Greene was then encamped upon the
High Hills of Santee, having, a little more than a week previous to the
date of his letter, been engaged in a bloody battle with the enemy at
Eutaw Springs.

In a former chapter we left Greene on his march to attack Fort
Ninety-Six, situated in Abbeville district in South Carolina, within
about six miles of the Saluda river. It was then garrisoned by five
hundred and fifty loyalists, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Cruger, of New York. Sumter having cut off all communication between
Camden and Ninety-Six, Cruger had not received Rawdon's orders to join
Brown at Augusta, but remained, and was using every endeavor to
strengthen his works.

Greene arrived before Ninety-Six on the twenty-second of May, with less
than a thousand regulars and a few raw militia. Kosciuszko, the brave
Pole, was his chief engineer, and under his direction the Americans
commenced making regular approaches, by parallels, for the works were
too strong to be taken by assault. For almost a month the work went on,
enlivened by an occasional sortie and skirmish. Then news came that Lord
Rawdon was approaching with a strong force to the relief of Cruger.
Greene's troops were full of spirit, and were anxious to storm the works
before his lordship's arrival. Consent was given by the commander, and
on the eighteenth an assault was made, and a bloody contest ensued. The
Americans were repulsed, and on the following day Greene raised the
siege and retreated across the Saluda. Rawdon pursued him a short
distance, and, having accomplish