Views of the different parties 5, 6
Lord North"s political somersault 6
Strange scene in the House of Commons 7, 8
Treaty between France and the United States (February 6, 1778) 8, 9
Great Britain declares war against France (March 13) 10
Demand for Lord Chatham for prime minister 11, 12
The king"s rage 12, 13
What Chatham would have tried to do 13, 14
Death of Chatham 14-16
His prodigious greatness 16-20
Lord North remains in power 20, 21
His commissioners in America fail to accomplish anything 22
Germain"s new plan for conducting the war 22, 23
CHAPTER IX
VALLEY FORGE
Distress in America 24
Lack of organization 25
Vexatious meddling of Congress with the army 26
Sufferings at Valley Forge 27
Promoting officers for non-military reasons 28
Absurd talk of John Adams 29
Gates is puffed up with success 30
And shows symptoms of insubordination 31
The Conway cabal 32, 33
Attempts to injure Washington 34, 35
Conway"s letter to Gates 36
Gates"s letter to Washington 37
Washington"s reply 38
Gates tries, unsuccessfully, to save himself by lying 39
But is successful, as usual, in keeping from under fire 40
The forged letters 40
Scheme for invading Canada 41
The dinner at York, and Lafayette"s toast 42
Absurdity of the scheme 43
Downfall of the cabal 43
Decline of the Continental Congress 44, 45
Increasing influence of Washington 45, 46
CHAPTER X
MONMOUTH AND NEWPORT
Baron Friedrich von Steuben 47-49
He arrives in America and visits Congress at York 50
His work in training the army at Valley Forge 51-53
His manual of tactics 54
Sir William Howe resigns his command 55
The Mischianza 56
The British evacuate Philadelphia (June 18, 1778) 56, 57
Arnold takes command there 57
Charles Lee is exchanged, and returns to his command in the American army 58
His reasons for returning 58, 59