The Poems of Philip Freneau Volume II Part 11

[52] Cornwallis, in command of the British army in the South, was in the early part of 1781 working his way steadily northward from South Carolina. Benedict Arnold arrived in the Chesapeake, January 2, 1781, and, supported by the British navy there, committed extensive ravages on the rivers and unprotected coasts of Virginia. Arnold offered to spare Richmond if he were given its stores of tobacco. The offer being rejected, the city with its tobacco was burned.

[53] The American frigate _Trumbull_, 20, Captain James Nicholson, was chased off the capes of the Delaware, August 8th, 1781, by three British cruisers. As it was blowing heavily towards night, the fore-topmast of the _Trumbull_ was carried away by a squall, bringing down with it, on deck, the main-topgallant mast. About ten o'clock at night, one of the British vessels, the _Iris_, 32, came up and closed with her while still enc.u.mbered with the wreck. "In the midst of rain and squalls, in a tempestuous night, with most of the forward hamper of the s.h.i.+p over her bows, or lying on the forecastle, with one of the arms of the fore-topsail yard run through her fore-sail, and the other jammed on deck, and with a disorganized crew, Captain Nicholson found himself compelled to go to quarters, or to strike without resistance. He preferred the first; but the English volunteers, instead of obeying orders, went below, extinguished the lights, and secreted themselves.

Near half of the remainder of the people imitated this example, and Captain Nicholson could not muster fifty of even the diminished crew he had, at the guns. The battle that followed might almost be said to have been fought by the officers. These brave men, sustained by a party of the petty officers and seamen, managed a few of the guns for more than an hour, when the _General Monk_, 18, coming up and joining in the fire of the _Iris_, the _Trumbull_ submitted."--_Cooper's Naval History._--[_Duyckinck's note, ed. of 1865._]

TO LORD CORNWALLIS[54]

At York, Virginia

Hail, great destroyer (equalled yet by none) Of countries not your master's, nor your own; Hatched by some demon on a stormy day, Satan's best subst.i.tute to burn and slay; Confined at last, hemmed in by land and sea, Burgoyne himself was but a type of thee!

Like his, to freedom was your deadly hate, Like his your baseness, and be his your fate: To you, like him, no prospect Nature yields, But ruined wastes and desolated fields[55]-- In vain you raise the interposing wall, And hoist those standards that, like you, must fall, In you conclude the glories of your race, Complete your monarch's and your own disgrace.

What has your lords.h.i.+p's pilfering arms attained?-- Vast stores of plunder, but no State regained-- That may return, though you perhaps may groan, Restore it, Charley,[56] for 'tis not your own-- Then, lord and soldier, headlong to the brine Rush down at once--the devil and the swine.

Wouldst thou at last with Was.h.i.+ngton engage, Sad object of his pity, not his rage?

See, round thy posts how terribly advance The chiefs, the armies, and the fleets of France;[57]

Fight while you can, for warlike Rochambeau Aims at your head his last decisive blow, Unnumbered ghosts from earth untimely sped, Can take no rest till you, like them, are dead-- Then die, my Lord; that only chance remains To wipe away dishonourable stains, For small advantage would your capture bring, The plundering servant of a bankrupt king.

[54] This did not appear in the _Freeman's Journal_. In the edition of 1786 it bore the t.i.tle, "To Lord Cornwallis, at York, Virginia, October 8, 1781."

[55] Cornwallis arrived in Virginia from his Southern campaign early in the summer of 1781, and immediately began with extreme vigor to subjugate that State. His cruelty and severity were exceptional, even in the annals of war. "The Americans of that day," says Bancroft, "computed that Cornwallis, in his midsummer marchings up and down Virginia, destroyed property to the value of three million pounds sterling."

[56] "Ruffian."--_Ed. 1786._

[57] On October 8th, Cornwallis, at York, was surrounded by the American army, who had just completed the first line of trenches. The redoubts were so far enough completed on the 9th that the Americans and French felt ready to begin the bombardment of the British works.

A LONDON DIALOGUE[58]

Between My Lords, Dunmore and Germaine

_Dunmore_

Ever since I return'd to my dear native sh.o.r.e, No poet in Grubstreet was ever dunned more-- I'm dunned by my barber, my taylor, my groom; How can I do else than to fret and to fume?

They join to attack me with one good accord, From morning till night 'tis "my lord, and my lord."

And there comes the cobler, so often denied-- If I had him in private, I'd thresh his tough hide.

_Germaine_

Would you worry the man that has found you in shoes?

Come, courage, my lord, I can tell you good news-- Virginia is conquered, the rebels are banged,[59]

You are now to go over and see them safe hanged: I hope it is not to your nature abhorrent To sign for these wretches a handsome death warrant-- Were I but in your place, I'm sure it would suit To sign their death warrants, and hang them to boot.

_Dunmore_

My lord!--I'm amazed--have we routed the foe?-- I shall govern again then, if matters be so-- And as to the hanging, in short, to be plain, I'll hang them so well, they'll ne'er want it again.

With regard to the wretches who thump at my gates, I'll discharge all their dues with the rebel estates; In less than three months I may send a polacca As deep as she'll swim, sir, with corn and tobacco.

_Germaine_

And send us some rebels--a dozen or so-- They'll serve here in London by way of a show; And as to the Tories, believe me, dear cousin, We can spare you some hundreds to pay for the dozen.

[58] _Freeman's Journal_, September 19, 1781. The original t.i.tle, the one used in the 1786 edition, was "Dialogue between the Lords Dunmore and Mansfield." Lord Dunmore was Governor of Virginia at the beginning of the war, in 1775, and was driven from that State by the outraged colonists. He continued in America, in various capacities, until near the close of the war. Lord George Germaine was Colonial Secretary under George III., and so had charge of the American War.

[59] Alluding to the vigorous campaign of Cornwallis. In June, Germaine had written to Cornwallis: "The rapidity of your movements is justly matter of astonishment to all Europe." On August 2nd he wrote: "I see nothing to prevent the recovery of the whole country to the King's obedience."

LORD CORNWALLIS TO SIR HENRY CLINTON[60]

[From York, Virginia]

From clouds of smoke, and flames that round me glow, To you, dear Clinton, I disclose my woe: Here cannons flash, bombs glance, and bullets fly; Not Arnold's[61] self endures such misery.

Was I foredoomed in tortures[62] to expire, Hurled to perdition in a blaze of fire?

With these blue flames can mortal man contend-- What arms can aid me, or what walls defend?

Even to these gates last night a phantom strode, And hailed me trembling to his dark abode: Aghast I stood, struck motionless and dumb, Seized with the horrors of the world to come.

Were but my power as mighty as my rage, Far different battles would Cornwallis wage; Beneath his sword yon' threat'ning hosts should groan, The earth would quake with thunders all his own.

O crocodile! had I thy flinty hide, Swords to defy, and glance the b.a.l.l.s aside, By my own prowess would I rout the foe, With my own javelin would I work their woe-- But fates averse, by heaven's supreme decree, Nile's serpent formed more excellent than me.

Has heaven, in secret, for some crime decreed That I should suffer, and my soldiers bleed?

Or is it by the jealous powers concealed, That I must bend, and they ign.o.bly yield?

Ah! no--the thought o'erwhelms my soul with grief: Come, bold Sir Harry, come to my relief; Come, thou brave man, whom rebels Tombstone call, But Britons, Graves[63]--come Digby, devil and all; Come, princely William, with thy potent aid, Can George's blood by Frenchmen be dismayed?

From a king's uncle once Scotch rebels run, And shall not these be routed by a son?

Come with your s.h.i.+ps to this disastrous sh.o.r.e, Come--or I sink--and sink to rise no more; By every motive that can sway the brave Haste, and my feeble, fainting army save; Come, and lost empire o'er the deep regain, Chastise these upstarts that usurp the main; I see their first rates to the charge advance, I see lost _Iris_ wear the flags of France; There a strict rule the wakeful Frenchman keeps; There, on no bed of down, Lord Rawdon sleeps!

Tired with long acting on this b.l.o.o.d.y stage, Sick of the follies of a wrangling age, Come with your fleet, and help me to retire To Britain's coast, the land of my desire-- For, me the foe their certain captive deem, And every trifler[64] takes me for his theme-- Long, much too long in this hard service tried, Bespattered still, be-deviled, and belied; With the first chance that favouring fortune sends I fly, converted, from this land of fiends; Convinced, for me, she has no gems in store, Nor leaves one triumph, even to hope for more.

[60] First published in the _Freeman's Journal_, October 17, 1781, two days before the final surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. "On the seventeenth [of September] Cornwallis reported to Clinton: 'This place is in no state of defence. If you cannot relieve me very soon, you must be prepared to hear the worst.'"--_Bancroft._

[61] "Satan's self."--_Ed. 1786._

[62] "Like Korah."--_Ib._

[63] "Lord Sandwich, after the retirement of Howe, gave the naval command at New York to officers without ability; and the aged Arbuthnot was succeeded by Graves, a coa.r.s.e and vulgar man of mean ability, and without skill in his profession."--_Bancroft._

[64] "School-boy."--_Ed. 1786._

THE VANITY OF EXISTENCE[65]