Part 24

On reaching Brunswick, Washington wrote at once to Governor Livingston, instructing him to collect all the boats and river craft on the Delaware for seventy miles, remove them to the western bank of the river, away from the enemy, and guard them.

He was doomed to additional disappointment at Brunswick. Colonel Reed raised no troops in New Jersey, and many of those raised by General Mifflin in Pennsylvania were deserting. The term of enlistment of General Mercer's command had expired, and no inducement or entreaties could prevail upon them to remain. He could not muster over four thousand men.

Still worse, a letter from General Lee to Colonel Reed disclosed the fact that the former had not given heed to the orders of his chief, and he was still at Northcastle. Moreover, the letter revealed that General Lee was plotting against him. Colonel Reed was absent when the letter arrived, and, according to his custom, Washington opened the letter, supposing it related to military business. What was his surprise to find that the letter contained insinuations against himself, and also implicated Colonel Reed, his old friend, in a plot to make Lee commander-in-chief.

We will say here, once for all, that, while General Lee was an able military officer, he was an ambitious, arrogant, and deceitful man. On his return from the South, his fame had reached the zenith, and some thought he ought to lead the American army. Washington's continued retreats increased this feeling, until General Lee evidently thought there was a fair prospect of the removal of Washington, and his own promotion to commander-in-chief. Even Colonel Reed entertained this opinion, though afterwards he saw his mistake, and made suitable amends. This explains Lee's conduct before and after Washington retired from Brunswick.

Judge Jay related the following incident: "A short time before the death of John Adams, I was conversing with my father about the American Revolution. Suddenly he remarked:

"'Ah, William! The history of that Revolution will never be known. Nobody now alive knows it but John Adams and myself.'

"'You surprise me, father; to what can you refer?'

"'The proceedings of the old Congress.'

"'What proceedings?'

"'Those against Washington; from first to last there was a bitter party against him.'"

The "old Congress" sat with closed doors, so that the public learned only what it was wise to disclose.

Washington waited for recruits at Brunswick until the 1st of December. On that day the vanguard of the British army appeared on the opposite side of the Raritan. Washington destroyed the end of the bridge next to the village, to intercept the pursuit of the enemy, and retreated. Stopping at Princeton temporarily, he left twelve hundred troops there, under Lord Stirling and General Stephens, to keep an eye on the foe, and continued his retreat to Trenton.

While the American army decreased from week to week, the British army in pursuit was augmented; for, through the Jerseys, General Howe impressed men, horses, and wagons, and at the same time many Tories flocked to his standard. He issued a proclamation, also, offering pardon and protection to all citizens who would take the oath of allegiance to the king. There was so little hope of the American cause at that time, and Washington's army appeared so plainly to be near destruction, that many citizens took the oath and joined the British army, as they thought, from absolute necessity. "Many who had been prominent in the cause, hastened to take advantage of this proclamation," says Irving. "Those who had the most property to lose were the first to submit; the middle ranks remained generally steadfast in this time of trial."

A British officer wrote to his friends in London:

"The rebels continue flying before our army. Lord Cornwallis took the fort opposite Brunswick, plunged into Raritan River, and seized the town.... Such a panic has seized the rebels that no part of the Jerseys will hold them, and I doubt whether Philadelphia itself will stop their career. The Congress have lost their authority.... They are in such consternation that they know not what to do. The two Adamses are in New England; Franklin gone to France; Lynch has lost his senses; Rutledge has gone home disgusted; Dana is persecuting at Albany; and Jay is in the country, playing as bad a part, so that the fools have lost the assistance of the knaves."

"This," says Sparks, "was the gloomiest period of the war. The campaign had been little else than a series of disasters and retreats. The enemy had gained possession of Rhode Island, Long Island, the city of New York, Staten Island, and nearly the whole of the Jerseys, and seemed on the point of extending their conquests into Pennsylvania. By the fatal scheme of short enlistments, and by sickness, the effective force with General Washington had dwindled away, till it hardly deserved the name of an army."

Still Washington was hopeful, and expected that the cause of right would triumph. When and how he could not tell; but he continued to say, "That Providence which has brought us out of many difficulties will yet crown our righteous cause with success."

"I expected substantial aid from the Jerseys," he said to General Mercer. "I am disappointed that the people have not flocked to our standard."

"I am more than disappointed," replied Mercer; "I am shocked and vexed at the cowardice of the people."

"What think you," continued Washington, "if we should retreat to the back part of Pennsylvania, would the Pennsylvanians support us?"

The mountainous regions of Pennsylvania were the field of his early exploits against the French and Indians, and Mercer was with him there.

"If the lower counties give up, the back counties will do the same," Mercer answered in a desponding way.

"We must then retire to Augusta County, Virginia," responded Washington, his indomitable spirit rising superior to all discouragements. "Numbers will repair to us for safety, and we will try a predatory war. If overpowered, we must cross the Alleghanies."

Before this time, Colonel Reed said to him one day, "When shall we stop this everlasting retreating and make a stand?"

Washington answered, without the least show of resentment:

"If it becomes necessary, we will retreat over every river and mountain in America."

Such an unconquerable spirit receives its reward at last.

Lee did not leave Northcastle until the last of November. True, he ordered General Heath to a movement that he claimed would support Washington; but when General Heath found that Lee was not obeying the orders of the commander-in-chief, he refused to entertain his commands.

"I am amenable to the commander-in-chief, and cannot supply you with troops as you order," he said.

"In point of _law_ you are right," said Lee, "but in point of policy I think you are wrong. I am going into the Jerseys for the salvation of America; I wish to take with me a larger force than I now have, and request you to order two thousand of your men to march with me."

"I cannot spare that number."

"Then order one thousand."

"No, not a thousand."

"How many, then?" continued Lee.

"Not one," answered Heath. "I may as well bring this matter to a point at once; not a single man will I furnish from this post by _your_ order."

"Then," exclaimed Lee in an excited manner, "I will order them myself."

"That makes a wide difference," rejoined Heath. "You are my senior, but I have received positive written instructions from him who is superior to us both, and I will not _myself_ break those orders. Read them."

He handed Washington's letter to Lee, in which he positively forbade the removal of any troops from that post.

"The commander-in-chief is now at a distance," said Lee, after reading the letter, "and he does not know what is necessary here as well as I do."

Turning to Major Huntington, Lee said authoritatively:

"You will order two regiments (designating the two) to march early to-morrow morning to join me."

General Heath was surprised and indignant at Lee's assumption of authority, and he said to the major, "Issue such orders at your peril!"

Then turning to Lee, he added:

"Sir, if you come to this post, and mean to issue orders here which will break the positive ones I have received I pray you do it completely yourself, and through your own deputy adjutant-general, who is present, and not draw me or any of my family in as partners in the guilt."

"It is right," answered Lee. "Colonel Scammel, do you issue the order."

"I have one more request to make," interrupted General Heath, "and that is, that you will be pleased to give me a certificate that you _exercise command_ at this post, and order from it these regiments."

Lee objected, but General George Clinton, who was present, said:

"That is a very reasonable request, General Lee, and surely you cannot refuse it."

Without replying, he immediately wrote the following:

"For the satisfaction of General Heath, and at his request, I do certify that I am commanding officer, at this present writing, in this post, and that I have, in that capacity, ordered Prescott's and Wyllis' regiments to march."

The next morning General Lee rode up to Heath's door, and said:

"Upon further consideration I have concluded not to take the two regiments with me. You may order them to return to their former post."

Evidently the ambitious and conceited general had come to the conclusion that "discretion is the better part of valor."

General Lee did not cross the Hudson until the 4th of December, moving snail-like, although he knew that Washington's army was in imminent peril.

"Do come on," Washington's last plea was; "your arrival may be fortunate, and, if it can be effected without delay, it may be the means of preserving a city whose loss must prove of the most fatal consequence to the cause of America."

The "city" referred to was Philadelphia. Washington had written to him that the enemy was designing to capture Philadelphia, a calamity that must be prevented if possible.

At this time Washington had removed the baggage and stores of his army across the Delaware. Being reinforced, however, by fifteen hundred Pennsylvania militia, he resolved to march back to Princeton and await developments. On his way he met General Stirling, who had evacuated Princeton, as Cornwallis was marching upon it with a large force. Returning to Trenton, he hastily collected all the boats possible, and conveyed his whole force over the Delaware, including General Stirling's command from Princeton. The rear-guard had scarcely crossed the river when Cornwallis appeared in the distance with his "bannered hosts." As Washington had taken possession of all the boats and transports, the enemy could not cross.

The tact and skill of Washington as a general were as conspicuous in his retreat through the Jerseys as they were on any battlefield. Thomas Paine accompanied the army, and he wrote:

"With a handful of men we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our ammunition, all our field-pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that our retreat was precipitate, for we were three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out until dark. The sign of fear was not seen in our camp; and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged."

On the 12th of December, General Lee had marched no farther than Vealtown, eight miles from Morristown. He continued to disregard Washington's appeals and instructions, receiving one almost every day. In some of them the commander-in-chief showed that his patience was well nigh exhausted.

"I am surprised that you should be in doubt about the route you are to take after my definite instructions," he wrote on the 11th of December.

"I have so frequently mentioned our situation, and the necessity of your aid, that it is painful for me to add a word on the subject," he wrote on the same day.

At Vealtown Lee left his troops in command of General Sullivan, and took up his own quarters at a "tavern" in Baskingridge, three miles off. He was very partial to "_taverns_" especially if well stocked with certain articles to please his palate.

On the next morning, about 11 o'clock, General Lee was writing at the table, and Major Wilkinson was looking out of the window. The latter arrived early in the morning with a letter from his commander, General Gates, and General Lee was replying to it.

"The British cavalry are upon us!" shouted Wilkinson in consternation.

"Where?" exclaimed Lee, springing from his chair.

"Right here, around the house," answered Wilkinson, who beheld a detachment of British cavalry surrounding the tavern.

"Where are the guards?" cried out Lee, in his surprise and horror. "Why don't they fire?"

It was a cold morning, and the guards had stacked their arms, and passed around to the south side of the house to sun themselves. They scarcely observed the enemy's presence until they heard the demand to surrender.

"If General Lee does not surrender in five minutes I will set fire to the house!"

At the same time the guards were chased in different directions. The demand for Lee to surrender was repeated, and he did surrender. Hastily he was put upon Wilkinson's horse, which stood at the door, and within three hours the enemy were exulting over him at Brunswick.

"No one to blame but himself," remarked Heath.

"Good enough for him," said many Americans.

General Sullivan was now in command, and he joined the commander-in-chief as soon as possible.

In Wilkinson's memoir it is said that Lee delayed so strangely in order to intercept the enemy in pursuit of Washington; and it is added:

"If General Lee had anticipated General Washington in cutting the cordon of the enemy between New York and the Delaware, the commander-in-chief would probably have been superseded. In this case Lee would have succeeded him."

Washington was too magnanimous to exult over the fall of Lee. Notwithstanding his knowledge of Lee's plans to supersede him, he wrote to his brother:

"Before you receive this letter, you will undoubtedly have heard of the capture of General Lee. This is an additional misfortune; and the more vexatious, as it was by his own folly and imprudence, and without a view to effect any good, that he was taken. As he went to lodge three miles out of his own camp, and within twenty miles of the enemy, a rascally Tory rode in the night to give notice of it to the enemy, who sent a party of light-horse, who seized him, and carried him off with every mark of triumph and indignity."

XX.

BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON.

Washington was so anxious for the safety of Philadelphia, that he appointed General Putnam to command the post, with instructions to fortify the city at once. At the same time he advised Congress to remove to Baltimore; and that body, after hastily completing the business before them, adjourned to meet in the latter city on the 20th of December.

By this time his army numbered about five thousand available men. One thousand militia from New Jersey, and fifteen hundred from Pennsylvania, with five hundred Germans from the latter State, was a very encouraging increase of his worn and wasted army. Then he had word that General Gates was coming on with seven regiments detached by Schuyler from the northern department. Washington was hopeful again, and began to plan an attack upon the enemy.

Before Congress adjourned to meet at Baltimore, they clothed Washington with unusual powers. They voted:

"Until Congress orders otherwise, General Washington shall be possessed of all power to order and direct all things relative to the department and to the operations of war."

In the days of ancient Rome, such power would have constituted him a military dictator. It was conferred in answer to a remarkable communication from Washington himself, one of the most able, practical, and faithful public documents extant, in which he said:

"It may be thought that I am going a good deal out of the line of my duty to adopt these measures or advise thus freely. A character to lose, an estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessings of liberty at stake, and a life devoted, must be my excuse."

Washington immediately recruited three battalions of artillery. He promised those whose time of enlistment had expired an increase of twenty-five per cent to their pay if they would remain, and ten dollars bounty for six weeks' service. "It is no time to stand upon expense," he said.

On the 20th of December, General Sullivan arrived with Lee's army. The men were in a bad plight, many of them sick and exhausted, others ragged and desponding. On the same day, also, General Gates arrived with the remnants of four regiments from the Northern army.

"Now is our time to strike a blow that shall put heart into the friends of our cause," said Washington to General Greene.

"I am at your service in any enterprise that will do that," answered Greene. "Explain."

"I propose an immediate attack upon the enemy," said Washington.

"Well, there is no cowardice in that proposition," remarked Greene. "To recross the Delaware that is filled with ice, and attack the enemy in his own camp, this wintry weather, is worthy of the commander-in-chief of the American army."

"Howe has gone into winter quarters in New York," continued Washington. "His troops are scattered about loosely, because he thinks the rebel army is powerless. Cornwallis has left our front, and returned to New York. The Hessians are stationed along the Delaware, facing us, and are thinking more of a good time, probably, in this Christmas season, than they are of us. It is a good time to surprise them."

"Perhaps so," answered Greene. "How about crossing the river with so much floating ice in it?"

"That is not an insuperable barrier," replied Washington. "Besides, if we wait until the river is frozen over, the enemy will surprise us."

"You are resolved to attack them?" added Greene.

"Yes, on the 25th, which is close by."

General Greene and the other officers entered into the plan with all their hearts, as soon as they fully comprehended it. The night of the 25th was the earliest moment the army could move. The intervening time would be required for preparation.

"A good chance to avenge the loss of Fort Washington, and the wrongs inflicted upon the people of Jersey by the Hessians," remarked General Greene to his command. The Hessians had been reckless and destructive in their march through the Jerseys.

"Miserable hirelings, these Hessians!" exclaimed Major Wilkinson, by way of stirring up the soldiers to crave an attack upon them. "Such wretches, fighting us for mere pay, without caring whether liberty or slavery reigns, deserve to be shot."

The night of the 25th was a boisterous one. A storm was coming on, and the Delaware rolled tempestuously. But, undismayed, Washington ordered the army to move at dark. He crossed the Delaware nine miles above Trenton, where there were fifteen hundred Hessians and a troop of British light-horse, to march down upon the town. General Ewing, with his force, was to have crossed a mile below the town, but was prevented by the quantity of ice. General Putnam, with the troops occupied in fortifying Philadelphia, crossed below Burlington.

When Washington was ready to march, after crossing the river, a furious storm of snow and sleet began to beat in the faces of the troops, to impede their progress. It was eight o'clock before the head of the column reached the village. Seeing a man chopping wood, Washington inquired:

"Which way is the Hessian picket?"

"I don't know," the man replied.

"You may tell," said Captain Forest of the artillery, "for that is General Washington."

The man changed his aspect instantly. Raising both hands heavenward, he exclaimed:

"God bless and prosper you!"

Then pointing to a house, he said:

"The picket is in that house, and the sentry stands near that tree."

Rising in his stirrups, and waving his sword in the air, Washington addressed his troops: "There, boys, are the enemies of your country! All I ask of you is to remember what you are about to fight for! March!"

Soon the battle began. It was a complete surprise to the foe. They rallied at first, and undertook to make a stand, but were unable to breast the storm of shot that beat into their very faces. The British light-horse fled from the town, together with other troops, none of which could have escaped if General Ewing and General Cadwalader had been able to cross the river, and coöperate with Washington, according to his plan. They were to guard the only way of retreat open to the enemy.

The battle was short and decisive. Many Hessians were killed, and their brave commander, Colonel Rahl, fell mortally wounded. He was conveyed carefully to the house of a Quaker lady, where General Washington paid him a visit before leaving town.

"The misfortunes of war are to be deplored," remarked Washington, taking the dying man by the hand, and expressing his sympathy for him.

"Death is preferable to life with this dishonor," answered Rahl.

Washington spoke in praise of the bravery of his men, to which Rahl replied, though he was really suffering the agony of death:

"I entreat you, General Washington, not to take anything from my men but their arms."

"I will not," answered Washington; and he kept the promise.

Washington took about a thousand prisoners in this battle, including thirty-two officers. His seizure of artillery and stores, also, was quite large. With prisoners and stores he recrossed the Delaware to his camp.

The fame of this brilliant exploit spread from town to town, reviving the despondent hopes of the many in sympathy with the American cause.

Despatches from Cadwalader and Reed assured Washington that the British army, fleeing from Trenton, had spread consternation everywhere among the enemy. Trenton, Bordentown, and other places were deserted by the foe, who, panic-stricken by the victory of Washington, fled in confusion.

Washington saw that now was his time to drive the British from the Jerseys. He sent to Generals McDougall and Maxwell at Morristown, ordering them to collect as large a force of militia as possible, and harass the retreating enemy in the rear. He wrote to General Heath, also, to come down at once from the Highlands, with the eastern militia; and he despatched gentlemen of influence in different directions, to arouse the militia to revenge the wrongs inflicted upon the people by the Hessians. He said:

"If what they have suffered does not rouse their resentment, they must not possess the feelings of humanity."

On the 29th of December, Washington crossed the Delaware again with a portion of his troops, though two days were consumed in the passage of all of them, on account of the ice and boisterous weather. A portion of his troops were expecting to go home at the end of the month, as the term of their enlistment expired; but Washington drew them up in line, and addressed them, appealing to their patriotism, inviting them to re-enlist, and offering them ten dollars bounty for six weeks' service. Most of them remained.

Taking advantage of the power vested in him, the commander-in-chief wrote to Robert Morris, "the patriot financier at Philadelphia," pleading for hard money to meet the emergency.

"If you could possibly collect a sum, if it were but one hundred or one hundred and fifty pounds, it would be of service."

Scarce as hard money was, Morris obtained the amount of a wealthy Quaker, and forwarded it to Washington by express the next morning.

After the victory at Trenton, Congress, in session at Baltimore, took additional action to invest Washington with all necessary powers; and that body said, in their communication to him: