Domestic history of the American revolution

Preface

The design and plan of the present work are entirely new. Its object is to exhibit the spirit and character of the Revolutionary period ; to portray, as far as possible in so brief a record, the social and domestic condition of the times, and the state of feeling among the people, with something of the services and experience of a class not usually noticed among those whose names live in historical remembrance. With this view, a short and comprehensive narrative of the successive events of the war is interspersed with domestic details and anecdotes illustrative of the state of the country at various intervals.

INIy researches during some years past in collecting authentic materials for "The Women of the American. Revolution," have brought to light many interesting incidents connected with the war, so strikingly characteristic of the times, that they should not be suffered to pass into oblivion. These are sparingly used, because more of them would have swelled the volume to an unsuitable size ; and all that possessed merely a

VI PREFACE.

personal interest have been excluded. It has also been found necessary to omit the minor details of military movements, which form the bulk of almost every history of the war. This omission, I think, will prove an advantage. The most attentive reader of history seldom retains in his memory more than the prominent incidents, losing sight of minute and complicated particulars as soon as he rises from his Btudies ; it may be questioned, therefore, whether it be not useless to perplex the learner with a multitude of details comparatively unimportant. I cannot help believing, too, that a really better idea of the Revolution may be obtained from anecdotes that exhibit the spirit which was abroad among all classes, and which prompted to action, than from the most accurate transcript of the manoeuvres by which different battles were lost and won, and the most precise statement of the number engaged, or of killed and wounded on either side. Accordingly I have given in general merely the date and locality of the principal battles, with the names of the leaders who were most conspicuous.

Wherever account is given of individual experience, it is for the purpose of showing what many did or suffered. An inadequate conception of the character of that heroic age of the Republic is afforded by general tradition, and it is only by collating such authentic records of individual action and endurance as have been preserved, that a correct idea may be formed The great Duke of Marlborough once said he had learned English history from the dramas of Shakspeare ; and we all

PREFACE. Vll

know the effect of a historical romance in impressing events on the memory ; how much greater should be the advantage derived from domestic pictures drawn from actual life ovei those which are at best but admirable imitations !

To guard against misapprehension, it is proper to say, that in this attempt to present in a new and interesting light the history of our struggle for national existence, there is nothing of fiinciful embellishment. I hold in just aversion the romancing trash under which, at the present day, the simple and picturesque — because simple — realities of our American story seem in danger of being buried. Not only has no aid of fiction been employed, but no traditional matter has been introduced, unless sustained by indisputable authority.

It will be observed that I have entered rather closely into the story of the war in the upper districts of South Carolina. One reason for this is — that no history has ever yet done justice to that section of country, or to the actors who there bore their part in the struggle ; another — that its partisan warfare was eminently domestic. Not only were neighbors divided and arrayed against each other, but the demon of civil discord invaded dwellings, and scowled ue-iide the sacred hearthstone ; in many cases it was literally true that a man's foes were those of his own household. This state of things gave rise to an unusual variety of picturesque and romantic incidents, from a large store of which but few are selected, — those which merely display the patriotism, fortitude, or prowess of individuals, not being suited to my purpose.

Vlll PREFACE.

In recording incidents of the war at the South, I have not relied on unsupported tradition. The military movements in that region are detailed in some manuscript records prepared by prominent actors in the scenes described. For a sight of these valuable documents I am indebted to Daniel G-. Stinson, Esq., of Chester District, South Carolina, whose aid I have had occasion to acknowledge in another work.

I have not thought it best, by enumerating authorities, to embarrass the volume with notes ; but it is not proper to pass without acknowledgement the assistance derived from Mr. Willson's and Mr. Henry's general compendium s, among others, and my obligations to Henry Onderdonk, Jr., Esq., for the notices of the British prisons and prison ships at New York, with the account of the Illicit Trade on Long Island Sound, and the Whaleboat Warfare ; as well as for other matters of interest gleaned from his work. Collins' History of Kentucky, with other books on the subject, has been consulted in the brief sketch of early settlements at the "West.

E. F. E.

CHAPTER I. Faob The British Colonies in North America 13

CHAPTER n.

Difficulties with Great Britain 23

CHAPTER HI.

Commencement of the War kS

CHAPTER IV.

State of Society— Female Influence— Evacuation of Boston— Attempt at the

South— Battle of Moore's Creek 39

CHAPTER V.

Declaration of Independence — Female Spy — Battle of Long Island .45?

CHAPTER VI.

Occupation of New York— State of the Country— Retreat through New Jersey— American Successes 59

.X CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.

Page

Sentimentof Europe— Winter Quarters— New Attempt on Philadelphia— Occupation— March of Burgoyne — Murder of Jane McCrea 72

CHAPTER VIII.

The Battles of Saratoga— the Prisoners at Cambridge 85

CHAPTER IX.

Female Agency— Valley Forge— State of Philadelphia 96

CHAPTER X.

British Prisons in New York 106

CHAPTER XI.

British Prison Ships— The Illicit Trade on Long Island Sound— Whaleboat Warfare 118

CHAPTER XII.

The French Alliance— The Mischiairea— Battle of Monmouth— Condition of the Country 129

CHAPTER XIII.

Indinn Depredations — The Massacres at Wyoming and Cherry Valley 14C

CHAPTER XIV.

Attack on the South— Subjugation of Georgia— Scenes in South Carolina- Siege of Savannah— Close of the Campaign of 1779 I6l

CHAPTER XV.

''/ftrnpaign of 1780 — Surrender of Charleston — Conquest of South Carolina

First Outbreak of Renewed Resistance 166

CONTEN rS. XI

CHAPTER XVI.

Paoe

A Scotch-Irish Settlement— Result of Martin's Preaching— Battle at Mobley's

Moeting-House 175

CHAPTER XVII.

Incursions of Huck— Battle at Williamson's— " Bloody Bill Cunningham.". . .184

CHAPTER XVIII.

Battles of Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock— Surprise at Fishing Creek. . . 195

CHAPTER XIX.

Surprise of Steel— Condition of the Country 205

CHAPTER XX.

The Warning at Green Spring— Battle of King's Mountain— Blackstocks— State of Charleston and the Country 218

CHAPTER XXI.

State of the Country in other Districts , 229

CHAPTER XXII.

Incursion into New Jersey— Indian Ravages in the Valky of the Mohawk. .239

CHAPTER XXIII.

Treason of Arnold — Contributions in Philadelphia — Revolt of Pennsylvania

Troops— Greene at the South— Battle of the Cowpens 249

CHAPTER XXIV.

Kotreat of Greene— Return— Battles of Guilford and Hobkirk's Hill— Fort Motte 263

XU CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXV.

Page

Attack on Ninety-Six— Battle of Eutaw— March of Cornwallis into Virginia- Siege of Yorktown— Burning of New London— Surrender of Cornwallis..278

CHAPTER XXVI.

Early Settlements at the West— Kentucky— Tennessee . , , , 291

CHAPTER XXVII.

Conclusion 803

DOMESTIC HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION.

CHAPTER I.

THE BRITISH COLONIES IN NORTH AMERICA.

It is well known that Christopher Columbus discovered the New World in 1492. The first navigators who reached the American continent were John Cabot and his son Sebastian, who sailed from England and arrived at the coast of Labrador in June, 1497. The French employed discoverers and took possession of lands chiefly in the northern part of the country, while the Spaniards claimed Florida, and finally established the first permanent European settlement on our shores.

The several attempts made to plant colonies within the limits of the United States, in the sixteenth century, proved unsuccessful, and no permanent settlement was made before 1607. Sir Walter Raleigh, having received from Queen Elizabeth a transfer of the patent granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 1584 visited a portion of the coast. The report brought by the navigators to the queen was so flattering that she gave the new country the name of Virginia, in honor of a virgin sovereign. The whole region between the thirty-fourth and forty -fifth degrees of north latitude was thus called. In the reign of James I. it was granted by royal charter to two companies formed to settle it ; the southern part, named South Virginia, to a company of merchants called the London Company ; and the northern, or North Virginia, to a corporation called the Plymouth Company.

In 1607 the colonization of Virginia was commenced under the auspices of the London Company. The first settlement was made at Jamestown. Captain John Smith was the ieader in this enterprise, and had many adventures. Being taken captive by the Indians, he was condemned to death by Powhatan, the chief of the savage confederacy, but saved by Pocahontas, the chief's young daughter. Smith learned much from the Indians, gained their confidence and good will, and supported his companions by his energy and activity. His genius and wise management established the colony. After his return from Virginia, he explored the north-eastern coast of the United States, and Prince Charles, at his suggestion, gave that country the name of New England.

The Dutch began to settle New York in 1613. They established themselves on the island of Manhattan, now New York. A naval force from Jamestown, under Capt. Argall, in the same year compelled the Dutch to submit to the authority of the British monarch. In 1664 the English finally conquered and took possession of the colony.

Two unsuccessful attempts were made in the beginning of the century, to form settlements in New England, by the Ply-

CHAPTER I. 15

mouth Company and Capt. Siiiitli ; but the first permanent one — the colony of Plymouth — was formed by the Pilgrims in 1620. These were Puritans, dissenters from the Church of England. Being by law required, under the heaviest penalties, to attend the established worship, they quitted their country, and sought in Holland " freedom to worship God" accordino: to their own consciences. The distresses suffered there determine d them to remove to the wilds of America. They procured a patent from England, sailed from Plymouth in a small vessel called the May Flower, and landed on Plymouth rock, Dec. 21st, 1620. They suffered much from hardship and sickness, yet trusted in the protection of the God for whose sake they had left home and friends, and who was to mak'C of them a great people.

The settlement of New Hampshire was begun in 1623, at the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and afterwards at Dover, Portsmouth and Exeter. In 1628 the colony of Massachusetts Bay was established under a grant of lands from the Plymouth Company. Salem was first settled, and afterwards Charlestown, Boston, and other towns in the vicinity. This colony in 1641 received under its government the settlements in New Hampshire; but in 1679 New Hampshire was made a separate province by royal ordinance. In 1692 the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonics were incorporated into one. Maine, settled in 1629, was united to Massachusetts in 1652. New Jersey was settled by the Danes about 1624. Some Dutch families soon afterwards planted themselves near New York. The country was conquered in 1655 by Peter Stuyve- Eant, the Dutch governor of New York, and finally came into the possession of the English on their conquest of New York in 1664.

The king of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus, sent over a colony of his subjects, who settled in Delaware in 1627. The Dutch settlers on the other side of the Delaware river disputed the possession of the country with the Swedes. They obtained it in 1655, and in 1664 yielded it to the English. Maryland was settled by English Roman Catholics, in 1 634. Lord Baltimore, who had explored the country, obtained the territory by royal patent, and it was called Maryland in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria.

Both Connecticut and Rhode Island were first settled by companies from Massachusetts ; the settlement of the former province being commenced at Hartford, 1635, and that of the latter at Providence in the following year. Providence was established by Roger Williams, a Baptist, who had been persecuted in Massachusetts on account of his religion. The followers of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, whose religious opinions were condemned by the Puritans, also sought homes in Rhode Island.

North Carolina was occupied by settlers from Virginia about the middle of the century ; South Carolina some years later. In 1 680 Charleston was founded, and about ten years afterwards came the French Protestants, or Huguenots, driven from their country by religious persecution, after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. They made their home chiefly in South Carolina.

Pennsylvania was settled in 1682, under a grant made by Chailes II. to William Penn, the great Quaker, after whom

CHAPTER I. 17

the province was named, lie drew the plan of Philadelphia and gave it its name, which si^^nifies " brotherly love." Thus all the colonies composing the original thirteen States, except Georgia, were establislied before the close of the seventeenth century.

Georgia became a colony in 1733. It was settled under a patent granted to twenty-one trustees, for the purpose of giving land gratuitously to the poor of Great Britain. A number of benevolent persons in England sent over the new colonists, and provided them with necessaries to begin the settlement. The province was named Georgia in honor of the British monarch.

The limits of this volume will not permit us to enter into the history of the separate colonies. Each had its peculiar and separate government, subject to the jurisdiction of Great Britain. In 1643 the four colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Haven, formed a union by articles of confederation, and adopted the style of " The United Colonies of New England." The object of this union was to protect themselves against the Indians and against the encroachments of the Dutch of " New Netherlands," as New York was then called. New England suffered much in 1675, in a war with the Indian tribes called " King Philip's war," after the great Indian Sachem.

The rebellion of Bacon in Virginia, which broke out about the same time, was caused by oppressive restrictions on commerce, and heavy taxes imposed by the governor. The New England colonics were severely oppressed in tht reign of James II., under the tyrannical administration of tha

IS DOMESTIC HISTORY OF THE REVOLUTION.

governor appointed by him, Sir Edmund Andros. The troubles find discontents in New York arose from the same causes. Jacob Leisler was at the head of the disaffected. All these commotions tended to develope the spirit which in time aspired to national independence.

The English Revolution, which in 1689 placed William and Mary on the throne, delivered the colonies from the oppressions they had suffered. Massachusetts received a new charter in 1692. In this year occurred the trials for witchcraft, in which so many unfortunate persons were accused, imprisoned and executed. These scenes were enacted chiefly in Salem and the neiohboring towns.

The colonies were involved in the war between France and England, commonly called King William's War — which lasted from 1690 to the peace of Ryswick, 1697. It was followed in 1702 by " Queen Anne's W^ar," which was ended by ♦he treaty of Utrecht, 1713. By this France ceded Newfoundland and Nova Scotia to England. In 1744 war was again declared by England against France, and the colonies were plunged into hostilities with the French and their savage allies. This war was most disastrous to the colonies, involving them in losses and debt. It was closed in 1748 by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The conflicting claims, however, of France and Great Britain to the possession of territories in America in a short time rendered another war inevitable This brings us to what is called " The French and Indian War."

The French had possession of C anada and Louisiana, and were engaged in connecting these territories by a chain of military

CHAPTER I. 19

posts along the Lakes and Ohio River, to prevent the encroachments of the English. The Ohio company in 1750 obtained from the English government a grant of a large tract of land on the Ohio, where they designed to open a trade with the Indians. The French governor in Canada, who claimed the whole country between the Ohio and the Alleghanies, interfered with their proceedings. Gov. Dinwiddle, of Virginia, after complaints of acts of violence to the traders, in 1753 determined to send a remonstrance to the French commandant stationed near the Ohio, and require him to withdraw bis troops from the territory, which he regarded as belonging to the charter limits of Virginia. The bearer of this despatch was George Washington, who, then a youth, thus entered first on his career of public service.

The French commandant refused to comply with the demand ; the British government determined to resist the French claim by force, and in 1754 Washington conducted a hostile expedition into the disputed territory. He was obliged by the French to capitulate, and returned with his troops to Virginia. The British government now recommended the colonies to unite for their common defence. At this period their general history may be said to commence. Before this time they had been distinct and separate ; bound to each other only by a common origin and language.

A convention of delegates from the northern colonies met at Albany in 1754, a^ ^ H plan of union, drawn up by Benjamin Franklin, was adop ed. It was rejected, however, both in England and xVmerica ; the British conceiving that it gave too much power to the people, and the colonists, too much to the crown. Hostilities went on, and the English forces gained possession of Nova Scotia. An expedition under G-en. Braddock against Fort Du Quesne was less fortunate. His troops were surprised on the banks of the Monongahela, and defeated by an inferior force of French and Indians. Braddock fell, mortally wounded, and Col. Washington, who, though shot at repeatedly by the Indians, had been wonderfully preserved in the battle, conducted the retreat, and saved the army from destruction.

A victory over the French on the borders of Lake G-eorge, m which their commander. Baron Dieskau, fell, followed in a few weeks, and revived the spirits of the Americans. In 1756 war was formally declared between Great Britain and France, and what is called ^' the seven years' war" began in Europe. This year's campaign in America was extremely disastrous to the colonists, and they accomplished little. The French, on the other hand, took Fort Oswego, and thus gained command of Lakes Ontario and Erie. In 1757 Montcalm, the French commander, besieged and took Fort William Henry, on the southern shore of Lake George. This fort was defended by Col. Munroe. The British troops, after the capitulation, were treacherously massacred by the Indians in Montcalm's army.

The campaign of 1758 was more successful. The great statesman, William Pitt, afterwards Earl of Chatham, became prime minister, and took the guidance of public affairs. The" colonies answered his call by new supplies of men, and the tide of success turned in favor of Britain. Fort Du Quesne was occupied by the English and named Pittsburgh ; Fort Frontenac

CHAPTER I. 21

at the outlet of Lake Ontario was captured, and in the fol lowing year the other French strongholds in Canada, with Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara, foil into the hands of the British. The celebrated Gen. Wolfe led the British and colonial troops against Quebec, defeated the French under Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham, and died on the field in the moment of victory. In less than a year from the fall of Queb(!C, the French were dispossessed not only of the disputed territories, but of their ancient province of Canada.

By the treaty of peace signed at Paris in 1763, France ceded to Great Britain her northern possessions, and Spain gave Florida in exchange for Havana. England was now almost sole mistress of the northern continent, and had three millions of loyal subjects in the colonies. These colonies had increased in wealth as well as population, had made rapid progress in commerce, and poured agricultural riches into the lap of the mother country. They loved and revered England, but her avarice and desire of power led her to oppress her dutiful children. For more than a century restrictions had been imposed on colonial trade and manufactures discouraged, to compel the Americans to buy and sell exclusively in the British markets.

These enactments of Parliament were regarded as oppressive and unjust, and produced much dissatisfaction. Piespectful remonstrance, however, passed unnoticed, and the right of the home government to legislate for and tax the colonies was maintained by the universal sentiment in Britain. Thus grew and ripened the discontent which, with progressive encroacliments, led the way to a final rupture. On the other hand, the necessity of uniting for their common defence, and concerted action against the enemy, had created a national spirit, and strengthened the ties of friendship between the colonies.

DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA AT BOSTON.

CH APTE R II.

DIFFICULTIES WITH GREAT BRITAIN.

The Edinburgh Review says of the Declaration of American Independence, that it is the most important event in the history of mankind Certainly the great Act by which thirteen colonies shook off the British yoke, and sprang into being as independent States, had remarkable consequences on both sides of the Atlantic. The war was one of principle — of principle involving the welfare of all nations ; for it decided whether or not men were to be ruled without their own consent ; whether or not one privileged class was to trample at will on the rights of another. It declared the common rights of mankind. It proved a warning to oppressors, and an encouragement to the oppressed, throughout the world. We are now to trace, as briefly as possible, the causes which led to this Revolution.

In 1764 it was proposed in England to replenish the exhausted treasury by taxing the colonics. George Grenville gave notice that at the ensuing session he should propose a duty on stamps. Great dissatisfaction prevailed in America at these proceedings. The people urged that as the colonies were not represented in parliament, they should not bo taxed Kemonstrances were addressed to government, and agents were sent to prevent the passage of the Stamp Act. It passed in March, 1765. By this act, no instruments of writing — deeds, bonds, notes, etc., could be legal unless drawn on stamped paper, for which a duty was to be paid to the crown.

The night after the passage of this bill, Dr. Franklin wrote to Charles Thomson, '* The sun of liberty is set ; you must light up the candles of industry and economy." The next day, Dr. Fothergill, on a visit to Miss Grraeme, a young American lady in London, said — " Betsy, yesterday you were made a slave of." She imagined he was jesting on the subject of matrimony, and answered — " No, sir, I am slave to no man ; my heart is my own !" The physician replied, ^^ Heart has nothing to do with it ! you and all your country-people were yesterday enslaved, for the bill passed the House for the American Stamp Act."

The passage of the Stamp Act was the entering wedge to the dismemberment of the British empire. The news was received in America with a perfect storm of opposition. Patrick Henry, the first to hurl the gauntlet, introduced resolutions against it into the Virginia Assembly ; Massachusetts was moved by a kindred spirit, and a congress of deputies from several of the colonies, forming the first Colonial Congress, was convened in October. The popular feeling became inflamed to the utmost, and all classes were excited. The daughter of Dr. Franklin wrote to her father — " The subject low is Stamp Act, and nothing else is talked of. The Dutch

Chapter II. 25

talk of the ' Stamp tack' — the negroes of the ' tamp' — in short everybody has something to say."

The first of November, the day on which the Act was to go Into operation, was kept as a day of mourning. The sliops were ehut, the flags of the vessels were at half mast, and the bellb were tolled as if for a funeral. At Portsmouth a coffin inscribed with the name of " Liberty" was buried with a funeral procession. In New York the Act was printed and paraded through the streets, with a death's head and cross-bones substituted for the royal arms, and the title " England's Folly and America's Ruin." Popular detestation of the measure was further manifested by destroying and sending back large quantities of the stamped paper. The merchants of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia entered into engagements not to import goods from Great Britain till the Act should be repealed, and individuals gave up foreign luxuries to support these measures for suspending trade.

In March, 1766, the Stamp Act was repealed, and a temporary calm succeeded the storm. But the flame of discord was soon fanned anew by other encroachments. It seemed, indeed, at this dreary period of British history, that the monarch and his ministry were laboring hard to tear from its socket and cast away forever, the brightest jewel of the imperial crown. At this interval, even Chatham's voice was powerless to arouse the nation, and induce Parliament to pause. By the revival of the scheme of taxation, the varied vexations of obnoxious duties, and the display of military force to compel submission, did penny-wise politicians, in the happy phrase of the day, " tease America into resistance," and hasten thts great catastrophe.

There were not wanting some, even in England, who sought by moderate and constitutional means to stay the hand of misgovernment and oppression. Yet onward, step by step, the monarch and his ministers — he, if possible, more infatuated than they, advanced in the career of tyrannical folly. Remonstrance was vain ; they could not be persuaded that it would ever become resistance. In 1769 and 1770, after five years of folly, the crisis was almost reached. The duties on tea being still imposed, while others were removed, the ports of New York and Philadelphia were closed against the tea ships, and that landed in Charleston was not permitted to be sold, but was stored in damp cellars, and spoiled. Associations in every part of the country were formed against the use of tea, and the women showed themselves ready to give up this much loved luxury, when it could only be procured at the sacrifice of their country's honor and liberties. The Boston Gazette, the leading " rebel newspaper," mentions an agreement signed by the Boston women in February, 1770, not to drink any tea till the revenue acts were repealed. Similar movements were made in New York and Virginia, and few ventured to sell the prohibited article. Mrs. Adams, in a letter to Mrs. Warren, calls the tea " that baneful weed," and hopes opposition will be made to its landing in Boston.

In December, 1773, a party of several men, in the costume of Mohawk Indians, went after dai-k, followed by a multitude of people, to the wharf where the tea ships were

CHAPTER II. 27

lying, boarded the vogiscls, broke open the chests of tea, and threw their contents into the sea. Three hundred and forty-two chesfsi of tea were thrown overboard in three hours. After this exploit they marched back quietly These proceedings excited the anger of the British governnient, and in March, 1774, a bill was passed prohibiting all comniercial intercourse with Boston, and forbidding the landing and shipping of goods at that port. This was called the " Boston Port Bill," and was followed by other violent measures. Well might one of the women of that day write — " Oh, America ! you have reason to tremble and arouse, if we on this side the Atlantic are not able to say to this royal vengeance — ' hitherto shalt thou come and no further ; here shall thy proud waves be stayed !' "

All the colonies sympathized in the common cause. The tyranny of Gov. Tiyon of North Carolina had inflamed the love of liberty in that province. The association of Regulators had spread over the western counties of the Carolinas^ and kept alive a spirit of resistance to governmental oppression. In the spring of 1771 Gov. Tryon proceeded against them with an armed force, a battle ensued, and the cruelties practised by Tryon towards the vanquished, for the purpose of awing the people, planted more deeply the seeds of discontent.

The general Congress met at Philadelphia, 1774, in the full determination to effect, if possible, a reconciliation with the mother country. It was not their wish to rush madly into an unnatural contest. Thoy declared their rights and grievances, and appealed to the King and people of Great Britain for re

28 DOMESTIC HISTORY OF THE REVOl'TTION.

dress. These peaceful measures, however, -were ineffectual, and the approach of the storm was perceived by the sagacious on both sides of the Atlantic. Ships of the line and troops were ordered by the British government to America to reduce the rebels to obadience, and hostile preparations were made in Massachusetts and other colonies to meet determined oppression by resistance The people practised military tactics ; the fife and drum were heard on every side, old and young beiucr eno;afyed in martial exercises, and stores of arms and ammunition were collected. The crisis had arrived, and there was a general waiting for the signal of open war.