He never became an American at heart like some other
Englishmen who fought on their side. He cared little for them, he
cared as little for the cause in which they were fighting, merely
seeing in it a chance of making himself famous, and he had a very
poor opinion of their fighting qualities. He was a tall, spare man
with a hollow-cheeked, ugly face, and a disagreeable manner. He
had a great opinion of himself, and boasted to such purpose that
the Americans believed him to be a military genius. And in this
first tussle with the British in the south he did so well that
their belief in him seemed justified. He seemed to the people a hero
and a genius rolled in one. In all the war after he did nothing to
uphold the fame he gained at Charleston.
South as well as north had now had a taste of war. South as well as
north had seen the British sail away, foiled. Every royal governor
had by this time been driven from his post, and for six months
and more the colonies had practically ruled themselves. What then,
said many, was the use of talking any more about allegiance to the
mother country? It was time, they said, to announce to all the world
that the colonies of America were a free and independent nation.
There was much grave discussion in Congress and throughout the
country. Some patriots, even those who longed most ardently to see
America a free country, thought that it was too soon to make the
claim.
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