General Henry Clinton launches an attempt in 1780 to re-take New Jersey.

On June 7, an invasion of six thousand men under Hessian general Wilhelm von Knyphausen meet stiff resistance from the local militia.

Though the British hold the field, Knyphausen feared a general engagement with Washington's main army, and withdraws.

A fortnight later, Knyphausen and Clinton decide upon a second attempt, which is soundly defeated at Springfield, effectively ending British ambitions in New Jersey.

Benedict Arnold has meanwhile grown disenfranchised with the war, and the American general conspires with the British to surrender the key American fortress of West Point.

Arnold's plot is foiled upon the capture of his contact, John André, and he escapes to British lines in New York.

Though Arnold's reasoning reflects Loyalist opinion, Patriots strongly condemn him.