155. Clark's Western Campaign, 1778-79.--The Virginians had long taken great interest in the western country. Their hardy pioneers had crossed the mountains and begun the settlement of Kentucky. The Virginians now determined to conquer the British posts in the country northwest of the Ohio. The command was given to George Rogers Clark. Gathering a strong band of hardy frontiersmen he set out on his dangerous expedition. He seized the posts in Illinois, and Vincennes surrendered to him. Then the British governor of the Northwest came from Detroit with a large force and recaptured Vincennes. Clark set out from Illinois to surprise the British. It was the middle of the winter. In some places the snow lay deep on the ground. Then came the early floods. For days the Americans marched in water up to their waists. At night they sought some little hill where they could sleep on dry ground. Then on again through the flood. They surprised the British garrison at Vincennes and forced it to surrender. That was the end of the contest for the Northwest. [Illustration: WEST POINT IN 1790.] [Sidenote: Benedict Arnold.] [Sidenote: His treason, 1780 _Higginson_, 209-211; _McMaster_, 144] 156. Arnold and André, 1780.--Of all the leaders under Washington none was abler in battle than Benedict Arnold. Unhappily he was always in trouble about money. He was distrusted by Congress and was not promoted. At Saratoga he quarrelled with Gates and was dismissed from his command. Later he became military governor of Philadelphia and was censured by Washington for his doings there. He then secured the command of West Point and offered to surrender the post to the British. Major André, of Clinton's staff, met Arnold to arrange the final details. On his return journey to New York André was arrested and taken before Washington. The American commander asked his generals if André was a spy. They replied that André was a spy, and he was hanged. Arnold escaped to New York and became a general in the British army. CHAPTER 16 INDEPENDENCE [Sidenote: Invasion of the South.] [Sidenote: Capture of Charleston, 1780.] 157. Fall of Charleston, 1780.--It seemed quite certain that Clinton could not conquer the Northern states with the forces given him. In the South there were many loyalists. Resistance might not be so stiff there. At all events Clinton decided to attempt the conquest of the South. Savannah was easily seized (1778), and the French and Americans could not retake it (1779). In the spring of 1780, Clinton, with a large army, landed on the coast between Savannah and Charleston. He marched overland to Charleston and besieged it from the land side. The Americans held out for a long time. But they were finally forced to surrender. Clinton then sailed back to New York, and left to Lord Cornwallis the further conquest of the Carolinas. [Sidenote: Battle of Camden, 1780.]