Jeffrey A. Denman

Between five and six thousand enslaved Black laborers had fled to the British lines at Yorktown and Gloucester, and they performed the most backbreaking work—construction of the fortifications. But their fate was about to take an even more terrible turn. Infected with smallpox and combined with dwindling provisions, they no longer were a valuable asset to the British. Cornwallis forced them out of camp and beyond the British lines, where they either died or fell into the hand

Arnold’s treason reverberated throughout the country. In Philadelphia, for example, citizens burned Arnold in effigy a few days after his plot was exposed. His effigy was drawn through the city in a cart, and his head was given two faces, representing his deceit and duplicity. Arnold, however, shared some defects with some of his fellow officers. The Continental Army was thought to contain a number of officers and soldiers not fully committed to the cause. John André had sugg

Late August brought more disappointment to the commander in chief. All hope of an attack on New York City disappeared when Washington learned that a British fleet off Brest, France, had blockaded the port, “delaying the Sailing of the second division.” Washington knew that even if the French and Spanish (who were collaborating with the French against the British) lifted the blockade, the fleet would never make it here on time to attack New York. The second division never arri