The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [265]
They sailed into a rising sun, the transports and escorting warships turning southward, sliding briskly along the New Jersey coast. They had been at sea three days, enough time for the troops to rid themselves of seasickness, the open air cleansing the depths of the largest transports. On the long voyages, Cornwallis had once passed the time by writing letters, most of them to Jemima. But now, he stayed on deck nearly all day, a slow methodical pacing, focusing first on the low dark strip of land to the west, then the amazing contrast, the open sea, the great yawning abyss to the east. When the call came from the lookouts, he had paid little mind, heard something from the officers of a signal from a small courier vessel. But when the ship lowered her sails, he forced himself to accompany the grotesque Arbuthnot to receive the smaller boat sliding alongside, the courier with the message. The ship had come up from the West Indies, and the news was not what anyone was expecting. Admiral d’Estaing had sailed north out of the Caribbean, not west. If there was a danger from the French fleet, it was now toward New York, or perhaps a second campaign to Rhode Island. Cornwallis was bewildered by Arbuthnot, the old man insisting the French must certainly invade Halifax. Regardless of the French intentions, it was clear that the threat to Jamaica was gone.
As the fleet turned about, Cornwallis went to his cabin and passed another three days in quiet despair. They would return the troops to New York, and once again, he would plant himself beside Henry Clinton, while the ministry tried to figure out what to do next.
OF ALL THE THIRTEEN COLONIES, THE LEAST SETTLED AND THUS, THE least political was Georgia. For the past year, the British had pushed up from their bases in Florida, had outmanned what resistance the colonial troops could offer. The spoils were Savannah and Augusta. While the loss of those two cities was not likely to change the outcome of the war, it was a clear sign that, with adequate leadership and sufficient force, the British could easily gain the upper hand. Though Georgia could be described as liberated from rebel control, much of the citizenry there had no great loyalty to either side. Subsistence and survival against hostile terrain and hostile Indians drew far more attention than whose flag might fly in the fortified cities. But the British had established a base from which they could look elsewhere, another incursion perhaps, another colony that might be reclaimed for the king.
As Cornwallis endured another long month in New York, the mystery of d’Estaing’s intentions became known. The French fleet had arrived at Savannah, obviously intending to recapture the port from British hands. It was a doomed effort, too reminiscent of the debacle at Newport. In an astounding reminder of d’Estaing’s first failure, a violent storm scattered and damaged much of the French fleet, effectively ending the mission. The colonial forces in the south now had shared the same frustrating experience as Greene and Sullivan at Newport. D’Estaing responded by dividing his fleet, returning half his ships to the West Indies, while d’Estaing himself led the remainder back to France. Though Savannah was still British, d’Estaing had accomplished one unintended success. Clinton continued to sit quietly in New York.
THE POPULATION, AS FAR AS WE CAN DETERMINE, IS EVENLY DIVIDED. Where we have failed in the past, General, was in believing that New Jersey and Pennsylvania would provide this army with overwhelming support. Time and again, General Howe’s expectations were not met.”
It was an accurate statement, and Cornwallis nodded slowly, still not certain why Clinton was telling