It was a magnanimity
reciprocated nearly a century and a half later when a great
American army in Europe was placed under the supreme command of a
Marshal of France.
CHAPTER IX. THE WAR IN THE SOUTH
After 1778 there was no more decisive fighting in the North. The
British plan was to hold New York and keep there a threatening
force, but to make the South henceforth the central arena of the
war. Accordingly, in 1779, they evacuated Rhode Island and left
the magnificent harbor of Newport to be the chief base for the
French fleet and army in America. They also drew in their posts
on the Hudson and left Washington free to strengthen West Point
and other defenses by which he was blocking the river. Meanwhile
they were striking staggering blows in the South. On December 29,
1778, a British force landed two miles below Savannah, in
Georgia, lying near the mouth of the important Savannah River,
and by nightfall, after some sharp fighting, took the place with
its stores and shipping. Augusta, the capital of Georgia, lay
about a hundred and twenty-five miles up the river. By the end of
February, 1779, the British not only held Augusta but had
established so strong a line of posts in the interior that
Georgia seemed to be entirely under their control.
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