There was no danger from any extended movement of British armies in force, and a consequent relaxation of effort pervaded the Colonies which had been most largely called upon for men to meet immediate invasion. This partial repose brought actual indolence and loss of enthusiasm in general operations beyond the districts immediately exposed to British attack. The winter garrison of Philadelphia, like that of Howe the previous year, languished in confinement, grew feeble in spirit, and weakened in discipline. Congress shared the enervating effect of the temporary suspension of active hostilities; and it was not until the ninth of March, 1779, that the definite establishment of the army, upon the fixed basis of eighty battalions, was formally authorized. The inaction of Clinton at New York gave the American Commander-in-Chief an opportunity to turn his attention to the Indian atrocities perpetrated the previous year in central New York; and on the nineteenth of April he sent a force under Colonel Schenck, Lieutenant-Colonel Willett and Major Cochran, which destroyed the settlement of the Onondagas, on the lands still occupied by them, near the present city of Syracuse in that State. An expedition was again planned for Canada, but the wisdom of Washington induced Congress to abandon it. Confederate money dropped to the nominal value of three or four cents on the dollar; and Washington was constrained to offer his private estate for sale, to meet his personal necessities. Congress seemed incapable of realizing the impending desolation which must attend a forcible invasion of the southern States, and Washington was powerless to detach troops from the north, equal to any grave emergency in that section, so long as Clinton occupied New York in force. General Greene, comprehending the views of Washington and the immediate necessity for organizing an army for the threatened States, equal to the responsibility, asked permission to undertake that responsibility; but Congress refused to sanction such a detail, although approved by Washington. This refusal, and the consequent delay to anticipate British invasion at the South, protracted the war, and brought both disaster and loss which early action might have anticipated, or prevented. The utmost that could be secured from Congress was permission for the detail of a portion of the regular troops which had been recruited at the South, to return to that section for active service. Lafayette, finding that active duty was not anticipated, sailed from Boston for France, January 11, 1779, upon the frigate _Alliance_, which the Continental Congress placed at his disposal.