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VIRGIXIA BIOGRAPHY
part in the capture of Montreal. He re-
turned to England and was promoted major
in the One Hundred and Third Regiment
August 10, 1761. After serxice in Bur-
goyne's division in Portugal, in 1762, lie or-
ganized a project for establishing new colo-
nies in America, to be recruited from Ger-
many, Switzerland and New England. The
British ministr}- refused to approve the
plan, and he went to Poland in 1764, where
he was appointed on the staff of the King,
and accompanied the Polish embassy to
Turkev in 1766. He returned to England
in 1766, and unsuccessfully urged his claims
to promotion. He accepted a commission
as major-general in the Polish army in
1769. and made a campaign against the
'lurks, after which he publicly derided his
.superior officers and left the army. He vis-
ited Italy in 1770. returned to England, was
in France and Switzerland, 1771-72, and on
May 25. 1772. he was promoted lieutenant-
colonel in the British army and placed on
half-pay. Disappointed, he arrix-ed in .Amer-
ica. November 10, 1773. made the acquaint-
ance of the revolutionary leaders, was in
Philadelphia during the first session of the
continental congress, and his expressed
knowledge of military science attracted at-
tention. He purchased for £5,000 Virginia
currency, an estate in Berkeley county,
Virginia, near the estate of Horatio Gates,
whose friendship he had gained. He was
commissioned second major-general in the
continental army in June, 1775. The friends
of Lee, notably Thomas Mifflin, earnestly
urged his claims for first place against Ar-
tcmas Ward, and when forced to second
place, Lee mercilessly ridiculed the military
skill of General Ward. He refused to ac-
cept until promised indemnity for any pe-
cuniary loss he might suffer by accepting a
commission, and congress assented. On
July 22 he resigrned his commission and
half-pay in the British 'lirmy and joined
Washington in his journey to Cambridge.
Massachusetts, where he was placed in com-
mand of the left wing of the army, with
headquarters at Winter Hill. When Sir
Henry Clinton left Boston on his southern
expedition, Gen. Lee was sent to Newport.
Rhode Island, and in January, 1776, pro-
ceeded to New York, where he directed the
fortifying of the harbor. When the news
of the death of Montgomery at Quebec
reached Philadelphia, Gen. Lee was made
commander of the army in Canada, but
when Clinton's destination was found to be
the southern states. Lee was transferred to
the command of the department of the
South, and went from New York to Vir-
ginia, where he organized the cavalry and
advocated a speedy Declaration of Inde-
pendence. He reached Charleston, South
Carolina, with his army, June 4, 1776, the
same day the British fleet entered the har-
bor with the troops of Clinton and Corn-
wallis. Gen. Moultrie had constructed a
fort of palmetto wood on Sullivan's Island,
which Lee proposed to abandon as inde-
fensible, but through the efforts of Presi-
dent Rutledge the fort was garrisoned, and
in the battle of June 28, 1776, Moultrie pre-
vented the British fleet from making a land-
ing, and Lee was g^ven the credit of the vic-
tory and became popularly known as xhe
'*Hero of Charleston." He proposed to in-
vade Florida, but congress ordered him to
report to Philadelphia, where he received
$30,000 indemnity for losses by the seques-
tration of his property in England. Lee ar-
rived in New York, October 14, 1776, and
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