In the winter of 1776,
General Howe marched with an air of victory through the Jerseys, the
consequence of which was his defeat; and General Burgoyne at
Saratoga experienced the same fate from the same cause. The Spaniards,
about two years ago, were defeated by the Algerines in the same
manner, that is, their first triumphs became a trap in which they were
totally routed. And whoever will attend to the circumstances and
events of a war carried on by invasion, will find, that any invader,
in order to be finally conquered must first begin to conquer.
I confess myself one of those who believe the loss of Philadelphia
to be attended with more advantages than injuries. The case stood
thus: The enemy imagined Philadelphia to be of more importance to us
than it really was; for we all know that it had long ceased to be a
port: not a cargo of goods had been brought into it for near a
twelvemonth, nor any fixed manufactories, nor even ship-building,
carried on in it; yet as the enemy believed the conquest of it to be
practicable, and to that belief added the absurd idea that the soul of
all America was centred there, and would be conquered there, it
naturally follows that their possession of it, by not answering the
end proposed, must break up the plans they had so foolishly gone upon,
and either oblige them to form a new one, for which their present
strength is not sufficient, or to give over the attempt.
We never had so small an army to fight against, nor so fair an
opportunity of final success as now.
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