As he began his Virginian campaign in this distant and remote fashion at the mouth of the Hudson, he was cheered by news that De Grasse, the French admiral, had sent recruits to Newport, and intended to come himself to the American coast.

He at once wrote De Grasse not to determine absolutely to come to New York, hinting that it might prove more advisable to operate to the southward.

It required great tact to keep the French fleet where he needed it, and yet not reveal his intentions, and nothing showed Washington's foresight more plainly than the manner in which he made the moves in this campaign, when miles of space and weeks of time separated him from the final object of his plans.

To trace this mastery of details, and the skill with which every point was remembered and covered, would require a long and minute narrative.
They can only be indicated here sufficiently to show how exactly each movement fitted in its place, and how all together brought the great result.
Fortified by the good news from De Grasse, Washington had an interview with De Rochambeau, and effected a junction with the French army.

Thus strengthened, he opened his campaign against Cornwallis by beginning a movement against Clinton.