“We all live here like nuns, shut up in a nunnery. No society with the town, for there are none there to visit. Neither can we go in or out, after a certain hour, without the countersign.” England, greatly exasperated, was redoubling her efforts for the subjugation of America. She hired four thousand three hundred troops, from the Duke of Brunswick in Germany, and thirteen thousand from the Prince of Hesse. Thus seventeen thousand Germans were hired by England, to aid in rivetting the chains of slavery upon the necks of the children of her own sons and daughters. The remnants of Arnold’s army were still in Canada. And, strange to say, they were besieging Quebec, with a force not equal to one-half of the British garrison, in that almost impregnable fortress. The British general, Carleton, was not a heroic soldier. Perhaps he acted humanely in keeping, with his men, behind their ramparts, where they were safe from harm. After sundry wild adventures, the little army found it necessary to retreat. Just then five British ships arrived, bringing a reinforcement of about one thousand men. As the Americans could not muster three hundred, they retired as rapidly as possible. Montreal was in the hands of the Americans. They reached their friends in that vicinity without much molestation. The latter part of May, Washington repaired to Philadelphia, to confer with Congress respecting the next campaign. General Putnam was left in command, at New York, during his absence. The spirit of Washington infused new energy into Congress. He assured them that all hope of reconciliation with implacable England was at an end; that America must summon all its energies, and submit the question to the deadly arbitration of battle. Congress promptly voted to hire soldiers for three years. A bounty of ten dollars was offered each recruit. About thirteen thousand militia were to be sent, at once, to New York. Gun-boats and fire-ships were to be built, to prevent the British fleet from entering the harbor. Ten thousand militia were to be stationed in the Jerseys. The British were engaging a large force of Indians, on the Mohawk, to descend that valley, and ravage the upper banks of the Hudson with the torch and the scalping knife. Washington wrote to his brother Augustine: “We expect a bloody summer in New York and Canada. And I am sorry to say that we are not, either in men or arms, prepared for it. However, it is to be hoped that, if our cause is just, as I most religiously believe, the same Providence which has, in many instances, appeared for us, will still go on to afford us its aid.”