Page:History of the United States of America, Spencer, v1.djvu/503

 to draw Washington from his defences, and bring on a general engagement, which the commander-in-chief was determined to avoid. Having remained six days in this position without success, Howe made a retrograde movement towards Amboy, which drew down Washington from the high ground as far as Quibbletown, when Howe, suddenly turning round, endeavored to cut him off from the hills; but Washington retired again to Middlebrook. Foiled in this object, Howe crossed over to Staten Island, and evacuated the Jerseys.

It was a matter of great perplexity to Washington, as to what might be the meaning of several movements at this time, on the part of the British. Burgoyne, it was well known, was in command of a large force in Canada, and was advancing upon Ticonderoga, In New York, preparations were made for some expedition by sea, which might be either to proceed against Philadelphia, or to attack New England, for the purpose of creating a diversion in favor of Burgoyne. It was not unlikely, also, that the real intention of all these measures might be, to ascend the Hudson, and to endeavor to form a junction with Burgoyne. Washington moved his force slowly, so as to be ready for this latter plan; but when, in July, the British fleet went to sea, he retraced his steps towards the Delaware, in order to be prepared to guard Philadelphia.

During this period of suspense, Washington passed a few days in Philadelphia, in conference with Congress. It was here, for the first time, he saw the enthusiastic and generous-hearted Marquis de Lafayette. Our limits do not admit of entering into the details of his romantic adventures; his being roused, at the age of nineteen, with the story of the American resistance to British oppression; his leaving a young wife, to whom he was tenderly attached; despite the prohibition of the French ministry, anxious to avoid openly assisting the Americans, his purchasing a vessel, and, with a chosen body of military comrades, his reaching America in safety; and his presenting his credentials to the Committee of Foreign Affairs. At first, owing to the numerous applications for employment, he received a very discouraging answer; but when he expressed his desire to serve as a volunteer, without pay, his claims were admitted, and he received the grade of major-general, before he was twenty years old. Washington seems to have been charmed, at once, with the youthful patriot, and Lafayette attached himself to the grave commander-in-chief, with a zeal and earnestness of devotion, that never flagged. Washington invited him to consider head-quarters as his home, and