d that an army of 40,000 men
was none too large for the purpose, especially as it was wholly
impracticable to reenforce King's Bridge from Brooklyn, or _vice versa_.
But from one or another cause the army had fallen below 25,000
effectives by midsummer, counting also the militia, who formed a
floating and most uncertain constituent of it. For the present,
therefore, King's Bridge was held as an outpost, or until the enemy's
plan of attack should be clearly developed; for whether Howe would first
assail the works at Brooklyn, Bunker Hill fashion, or land his troops
beyond King's Bridge, bringing them around by way of Long Island Sound,
were questions most anxiously debated in the American camp.

However, the belief in a successful defence was much encouraged by the
recent crushing defeat that the British fleet had met with in
attempting to pass the American batteries at Charleston. Thrice welcome
after the disasters of the unlucky Canada campaign, this success tended
greatly to stiffen the backbone of the army, in the face of the steady
and ominous accumulation of the British land and naval forces in the
lower bay. Then again, the Declaration of Independence, read to every
brigade in the army (July 9), was received with much enthusiasm. Now,
for the first time since hostilities began, officers and men knew
exactly what they were fighting for. There was at least an end to
suspense, a term to all talk of compromise, and that was much.

[Sidenote: The British army.]

Thus matters stood in the American camps, when the British army that had
been driven from Boston, heavily reenforced from Europe, and by calling
in detachments from South Carolina, Florida, and the West Indies, so
bringing the whole force in round numbers up to 30,000 men,[6] cast
anchor in the lower bay. Never before had such an armament been seen in
American waters. Backed by this imposing display of force, royal
commissioners had come to tender the olive branch, as it were, on the
point of the bayonet. They were told, in effect, that those who have
committed no crime want no pardon. Washington was next approached. As
the representative soldier of the new nation, he refused to be addressed
except by the title it had conferred upon him. The etiquette of the
contest must be asserted in his person. Failing to find any common
ground, upon which negotiations could proceed, resort was had to the
bayonet again.

Footnotes:

[1] These were Poor's, Patterson's