THE CAPTURE OF STONY POINT by General Wayne, with only eight hundred men, was one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. The countersign, which, curiously enough, was "The fort is ours," was obtained from a negro who was in the habit of selling strawberries at the fort. He guided them in the darkness to the causeway leading over the flooded marsh around the foot of the hill, on which the fort was situated. The unsuspicious sentinel, having received the countersign, was chatting with the negro, when he was suddenly seized and gagged. Wayne's men passed over the causeway and reached the base of the hill undiscovered. Forming in two divisions, with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, they commenced the ascent of the steep and narrow path which led to the top. They had nearly reached the picket before they were discovered. Fire was at once opened upon them. Wayne was wounded, but commanded his aids to carry him that he might die at the head of the column. The rush of his men was irresistible. An instant more, and a deafening shout told that the fort was won. The British lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, six hundred men. [Illustration: GIVING THE COUNTERSIGN AT STONY POINT.] GENERAL SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION.--The atrocities of the Indians had kept the inhabitants of the Wyoming and Mohawk valleys in continued terror. In the summer, General Sullivan led an expedition into the Genesee country. Near Elmira, N. Y., he fought a fierce battle with the Indians and their tory allies. The latter being defeated, fled in dismay, while Sullivan marched to and fro through that beautiful region, laying waste their corn-fields, felling their orchards, and burning their houses. [Footnote: The Indians, in the fertile country of the Cayugas and Senecas, had towns and villages regularly laid out, framed houses, some of them well finished, painted, and having chimneys, and broad and productive fields, with orchards of apple, pear, and peach trees.] NAVAL EXPLOITS.--No American successes caused more annoyance to the British than those of the navy. In 1775, Washington fitted out several vessels to cruise along the New England coast as privateers. In the same year Congress established a naval department. Swift sailing vessels, manned by bold seamen, infested every avenue of commerce. Within three years they captured five hundred ships. They even cruised among the British isles, and, entering harbors, seized and burned ships lying at English wharves. Paul Jones is the most famous of these naval heroes. While cruising with a squadron of five vessels off the northeast coast of England, he met the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough convoying a fleet of merchantmen. At half-past seven in the evening of September 23, he laid his own vessel, the Bon Homme Richard, alongside the Serapis, and a desperate struggle ensued. In the midst of the engagement he lashed the ships together.