The latter half of the year 1776 and the whole of the year 1777 have been vaguely and erroneously described as "the dark hour" of the war for American independence. It is true that our armies, hastily gathered and imperfectly equipped, had been outnumbered and defeated in several important engagements. Beyond that purely military fact there was no real darkness. Upon the sea the success of the Americans had been phenomenal. Before the end of the year 1777, the commerce of Great Britain had suffered losses which dismayed her merchants. As early as the 6th of February, 1778, Mr. Woodbridge, alderman of London, testified at the bar of the House of Lords that the number of British ships tak…
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