embarked all stores, except those needed for a fortnight’s supply of the army in a hostile country.  The threatening contingency of a superior enemy’s appearing off the coast might, and did, make it imperative not to risk the troops at sea, but to choose instead the alternative of a ninety-mile march through New Jersey, which a year before had been rejected as too hazardous for an even larger force.  Thus prepared, no time was lost when the evacuation became necessary.  Sir William Howe, who had been relieved on the 24th of May by Sir Henry Clinton, and had returned to England, escaped the humiliation of giving up his dearly bought conquest.  On the 18th of June the British troops, twelve thousand in number, were ferried across the Delaware, under the supervision of the Navy, and began their hazardous march to New York.  The next day the transports began to move down the river; but, owing to the intricate navigation, head winds, and calms, they did not get to sea until the 28th of June.  On the 8th of July, ten days too late, d’Estaing anchored in the mouth of the Delaware.  “Had a passage of even ordinary length taken place,” wrote Washington, “Lord Howe with the British ships of war and all the transports in the river Delaware must inevitably have fallen; and Sir Henry Clinton must have had better luck than is commonly dispensed to men of his profession under such circumstances, if he and his troops had not shared at least the fate of Burgoyne.”

Had Howe’s fleet been intercepted, there would have been no naval defence for New York; the French fleet would have surmounted the difficulties of the harbour bar at its ease; and Clinton, caught between it and the American army, must have surrendered.  Howe’s arrival obviated this immediate danger; but much still needed to be done, or the end would be postponed only, not averted.  A fair wind carried the fleet and the whole convoy from the Delaware to Sandy Hook in forty-eight hours.  On the morning of the 29th, as Howe was approaching his port, he spoke a packet from England, which not only brought definite news of d’Estaing’s sailing, but also reported that she herself had fallen in with him to the southward, not very far from the American coast, and had been chased by his ships.  His appearance off New York, therefore, was imminent.

Howe’s measures were prompt and thorough, as became his great reputation.  To watch for d’Estaing’s approach, a body of cruisers was despatched, numerous enough for some to bring frequent word of his movements, while others kept touch with him.  The ships at New York were ordered down to Sandy Hook, where the defence of the entrance was to be made.  Clinton, who had been hard pressed by Washington throughout his march, arrived on the 30th of June—­the day after Howe himself—­on the heights of Navesink, on the seacoast, just south of Sandy Hook.  During the previous winter the sea had made a breach between the heights and the Hook, converting the latter into an island.  Across this inlet the Navy threw a bridge of boats, by which the army on the 5th of July passed to the Hook, and thence was conveyed to the city.