In the autumn General Gage sailed for England, and the command of the British army devolved upon General Howe. Parliament now declared the colonies out of royal protection, and an army of seventeen thousand mercenaries were employed to aid in their subjection. On the 7th of June, 1776, a motion was made in Congress for declaring the colonies free and independent States. The motion was discussed, and on the fourth of July approved, by a nearly unanimous vote. The struggle had now begun in earnest. Since his arrival at Cambridge General Washington had been engaged in organizing an army out of his raw recruits, and in efforts to provide them with ammunition and suitable clothing. The regular force of Americans in February was about fourteen thousand men; in addition to these about six thousand of the Massachusetts militia were at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief. With these troops he succeeded in forcing the British to evacuate Boston. This victory was followed by defeat in Canada, the complete British possession of New York, and of the States of New Jersey and Rhode Island. In the spring of 1777 a ship arrived from France with upwards of eleven thousand stand of arms and one thousand barrels of gunpowder. The army was fully provided with arms and ammunition, and more confidence was felt in the chances for success. As the Continental army gradually regained possession of New Jersey after Washington’s victory of Trenton, the depleted ranks began to fill up, and the fortunes of the United States never again sank to such a low ebb as they had after the British invasion of New York. About this time several French officers of distinction entered the service of the United States, among them the Marquis de Lafayette, the Baron St. Ovary, and Count Pulaski, the latter a noble Pole. They were all of the greatest service to the Americans. The most important addition to our ranks was that of the Baron Steuben, who had been aide-de-camp to Frederick the Great, and had served through the Seven Years’ War. After leaving the Prussian army he had been Grand Marshal of the Court of the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen. “The object of my greatest ambition,” he wrote Washington, “is to deserve the title of a citizen of the United States by fighting for the cause of your liberty.” He added that after serving under the King of Prussia, the only man he cared to fight under now was General Washington. The Baron was made Inspector-General of the army, and it was due to him largely that the raw forces were brought into the discipline necessary to insure final victory. Under him the army soon began to operate like a great machine.