No man had done and given so much as Washington, and at the same time no other man had his love of thoroughness, and his indomitable fighting temper.  He found few sympathizers, his words fell upon deaf ears, and he was left to struggle on and maintain his ground as best he might, without any substantial backing.  As it turned out, England was more severely wounded than he dared to hope, and her desire for peace was real.  But Washington’s distrust and the active policy which he urged were, in the conditions of the moment, perfectly sound, both in a military and a political point of view.  It made no real difference, however, whether he was right or wrong in his opinion.  He could not get what he wanted, and he was obliged to drag through another year, fettered in his military movements, and oppressed with anxiety for the future.  He longed to drive the British from New York, and was forced to content himself, as so often before, with keeping his army in existence.  It was a trying time, and fruitful in nothing but anxious forebodings.  All the fighting was confined to skirmishes of outposts, and his days were consumed in vain efforts to obtain help from the States, while he watched with painful eagerness the current of events in Europe, down which the fortunes of his country were feebly drifting.

Among the petty incidents of the year there was one which, in its effects, gained an international importance, which has left a deep stain upon the English arms, and which touched Washington deeply.  Captain Huddy, an American officer, was captured in a skirmish and carried to New York, where he was placed in confinement.  Thence he was taken on April 12 by a party of Tories in the British service, commanded by Captain Lippencott, and hanged in the broad light of day on the heights near Middletown.  Testimony and affidavits to the fact, which was never questioned, were duly gathered and laid before Washington.  The deed was one of wanton barbarity, for which it would be difficult to find a parallel in the annals of modern warfare.  The authors of this brutal murder, to our shame be it said, were of American birth, but they were fighting for the crown and wore the British uniform.  England, which for generations has deafened the world with paeans of praise for her own love of fair play and for her generous humanity, stepped in here and threw the mantle of her protection over these cowardly hangmen.  It has not been uncommon for wild North American savages to deliver up criminals to the vengeance of the law, but English ministers and officers condoned the murder of Huddy, and sheltered his murderers.