The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
J >> John Marshall >> The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31
{November 21.}
[Sidenote: Weakness of the American army.]
This gloomy state of things was not brightened by the prospect before
him. In casting his eyes around, no cheering object presented itself.
No confidence could be placed on receiving reinforcements from any
quarter. But, in no situation could Washington despond. His exertions
to collect an army, and to impede the progress of his enemy, were
perseveringly continued. Understanding that Sir Guy Carleton no longer
threatened Ticonderoga, he directed General Schuyler to hasten the
troops of Pennsylvania and Jersey to his assistance, and ordered[49]
General Lee to cross the North River, and be in readiness to join him,
should the enemy continue the campaign. But, under the influence of
the same fatal cause which had acted elsewhere, these armies too were
melting away, and would soon be almost totally dissolved. General
Mercer, who commanded a part of the flying camp stationed about
Bergen, was also called in; but these troops had engaged to serve only
till the 1st of December, and, like the other six months men, had
already abandoned the army in great numbers. No hope existed of
retaining the remnant after they should possess a legal right to be
discharged; and there was not much probability of supplying their
places with other militia. To New England he looked with anxious hope;
and his requisitions on those states received prompt attention. Six
thousand militia from Massachusetts, and a considerable body from
Connecticut, were ordered to his assistance; but some delay in
assembling them was unavoidable, and their march was arrested by the
appearance of the enemy in their immediate neighbourhood.
[Footnote 49: See note No. VII. at the end of the volume.]
Three thousand men, conducted by Sir Henry Clinton, who were embarked
on board a fleet commanded by Sir Peter Parker, sailed late in
November from New York, and, without much opposition, took possession
of Newport. This invasion excited serious alarm in Massachusetts and
Connecticut, and these states retained for their own defence, the
militia who had been embodied at the instance of the
Commander-in-chief.
Not intending to maintain his present position, General Washington had
placed some regiments along the Hackensack to afford the semblance of
defending its passage until his stores could be removed; and, with the
residue of the troops, crossed the Passaic, and took post at Newark.
Soon after he had marched, Major General Vaughan appeared before the
new bridge over Hackensack. The American detachment which had been
left in the rear, being unable to defend it, broke it down, and
retired before him over the Passaic.
[Sidenote: Ineffectual attempts to raise the militia.]
Having entered the open country, General Washington determined to halt
a few days on the south side of this river, make some show of
resistance, and endeavour to collect such a force as would keep up the
semblance of an army. His letters, not having produced such exertions
as the public exigencies required, he deputed General Mifflin to the
government of Pennsylvania, and Colonel Reid, his Adjutant General, to
the government of New Jersey, with orders to represent the real
situation of the army, and the certainty that, without great
reinforcements, Philadelphia must fall into the hands of the enemy,
and the state of Jersey be overrun.
While thus endeavouring to strengthen himself with militia, he pressed
General Lee to hasten his march, and cautioned him to keep high enough
up the country to avoid the enemy, who, having got possession of the
mail containing one of his late letters, would certainly endeavour to
prevent the junction of the two armies.
This perilous state of things was rendered still more critical by
indications of an insurrection in the county of Monmouth, in Jersey,
where great numbers favoured the royal cause. In other places, too, a
hostile temper was displayed, and an indisposition to farther
resistance began to be manifested throughout that state. These
appearances obliged him to make detachments from the militia of his
army, to overawe the disaffected of Monmouth, who were on the point of
assembling in force.
[Sidenote: General Washington retreats through Jersey.]
{November 23.}
As the British army crossed the Passaic, General Washington abandoned
his position behind that river; and the day Lord Cornwallis entered
Newark, he retreated to Brunswick, a small village on the Raritan.
{December 1.}
At this place, the levies drawn from Maryland and Jersey to compose
the flying camp, became entitled to their discharge. No remonstrances
could detain them; and he sustained the mortification of seeing his
feeble army still more enfeebled by being entirely abandoned by these
troops, in the face of an advancing enemy. The Pennsylvania militia
belonging to the flying camp were engaged to serve till the 1st of
January. So many of them deserted, that it was deemed necessary to
place guards on the roads, and ferries over the Delaware, to apprehend
and send them back to camp. The Governor of New Jersey was again
pressed for assistance, but it was not in his power to furnish the aid
required. The well affected part of the lower country was overawed by
the British army; and the militia of Morris and Sussex came out slowly
and reluctantly.
While at Brunswick, attempts were made to retard the advance of the
British army by movements indicating an intention to act on the
offensive; but this feint was unavailing. Lord Cornwallis continued to
press forward; and, as his advanced guards showed themselves on the
opposite side of the bridge, General Washington evacuated the town,
and marched through Princeton to Trenton. Directions had already been
given to collect all the boats on the Delaware, from Philadelphia
upwards for seventy miles, in the hope that the progress of the enemy
might be stopped at this river; and that, in the mean time,
reinforcements might arrive which would enable him to dispute its
passage.
{December 2.}
Having, with great labour, transported the few remaining military
stores and baggage over the Delaware, he determined to remain as long
as possible on the northern banks of that river.
The army which was thus pressed slowly through the Jerseys, was aided
by no other cavalry than a small corps of badly mounted Connecticut
militia, commanded by Major Shelden; and was almost equally destitute
of artillery. Its numbers, at no time during the retreat, exceeded
four thousand men, and on reaching the Delaware, was reduced to less
than three thousand; of whom, not quite one thousand were militia of
New Jersey. Even among the continental troops there were many whose
term of service was about to expire.
Its defectiveness of numbers did not constitute its only weakness. The
regulars were badly armed, worse clad, and almost destitute of tents,
blankets, or utensils for dressing their food. They were composed
chiefly of the garrison of fort Lee, and had been obliged to evacuate
that place with too much precipitation to bring with them even those
few articles of comfort and accommodation with which they had been
furnished. The Commander-in-chief found himself at the head of this
small band of soldiers, dispirited by their losses and fatigues,
retreating almost naked and bare-footed, in the cold of November and
December, before a numerous, well appointed, and victorious army,
through a desponding country, much more disposed to obtain safety by
submission, than to seek it by a manly resistance.
In this crisis of American affairs, a proclamation was issued by Lord
and General Howe, as commissioners appointed on the part of the crown
for restoring peace to America, commanding all persons assembled in
arms against his majesty's government, to disband and return to their
homes; and all civil officers to desist from their treasonable
practices, and relinquish their usurped authority. A full pardon was
offered to every person who would, within sixty days, appear before
certain civil or military officers of the crown, claim the benefit of
that proclamation, and testify his obedience to the laws by
subscribing a declaration of his submission to the royal authority.
Copies of it were dispersed through the country, after which numbers
flocked in daily, to make their peace and obtain protection. The
contrast between the splendid appearance of the pursuing army, and
that of the ragged Americans who were flying before them, could not
fail to nourish the general opinion that the contest was approaching
its termination.
Among the many valuable traits in the character of Washington, was
that unyielding firmness of mind which resisted these accumulated
circumstances of depression, and supported him under them. Undismayed
by the dangers which surrounded him, he did not for an instant relax
his exertions, nor omit any thing which could obstruct the progress of
the enemy, or improve his own condition. He did not appear to despair
of the public safety, but struggled against adverse fortune with the
hope of yet vanquishing the difficulties which surrounded him; and
constantly showed himself to his harassed and enfeebled army, with a
serene, unembarrassed countenance, betraying no fears in himself, and
invigorating and inspiring with confidence the bosoms of others. To
this unconquerable firmness, to this perfect self-possession under the
most desperate circumstances, is America, in a great degree, indebted
for her independence.
{December 5.}
After removing his baggage and stores over the Delaware, and sending
his sick to Philadelphia, the American General, finding that Lord
Cornwallis still continued in Brunswick, detached twelve hundred men
to Princeton in the hope that this appearance of advancing on the
British might not only retard their progress, but cover a part of the
country, and reanimate the people of Jersey.
Some portion of this short respite from laborious service was devoted
to the predominant wish of his heart,--preparations for the next
campaign,--by impressing on congress a conviction of the real causes
of the present calamitous state of things. However the human mind may
resist the clearest theoretic reasoning, it is scarcely possible not
to discern obvious and radical errors, while smarting under their
destructive consequences. The abandonment of the army by whole
regiments of the flying camp, in the face of an advancing and superior
enemy; the impracticability of calling out the militia of Jersey and
Pennsylvania in sufficient force to prevent Lord Cornwallis from
overrunning the first state, or restrain him from entering the last,
had it not been saved by other causes, were practical lessons on the
subjects of enlistments for a short time, and a reliance on militia,
which no prejudice could disregard, and which could not fail to add
great weight to the remonstrances formerly made by the
Commander-in-chief, which were now repeated.
{December 6.}
{Seventh.}
The exertions of General Mifflin to raise the militia of Pennsylvania,
though unavailing in the country, were successful in Philadelphia. A
large proportion of the inhabitants of that city capable of bearing
arms, had associated for the general defence; and, on this occasion,
fifteen hundred of them marched to Trenton; to which place a German
battalion was also ordered by congress. On the arrival of these
troops, General Washington commenced his march to Princeton, but was
stopped by the intelligence that Lord Cornwallis, having received
large reinforcements, was advancing rapidly from Brunswick by
different routes, and endeavouring to gain his rear.
{Eighth.}
[Sidenote: General Washington crosses the Delaware.]
[Sidenote: Danger of Philadelphia.]
On receiving this intelligence, he crossed the Delaware, and posted
his army in such a manner as to guard the fords. As his rear passed
the river, the van of the British army appeared in sight. The main
body took post at Trenton, and detachments were placed both above and
below, while small parties, without interruption from the people of
the country, reconnoitred the Delaware for a considerable distance.
From Bordentown below Trenton the course of the river turns westward,
and forms an acute angle with its course from Philadelphia to that
place; so that Lord Cornwallis might cross a considerable distance
above, and be not much, if any, farther from that city than the
American army.
The British general made some unsuccessful attempts to seize a number
of boats guarded by Lord Stirling, about Coryell's Ferry; and, in
order to facilitate his movements down the river, on the Jersey shore,
repaired the bridges below Trenton, which had been broken down by
order of General Washington. He then advanced a strong detachment to
Bordentown, giving indications of an intention to cross the Delaware
at the same time above and below; and either to march in two columns
to Philadelphia, or completely to envelop the American army in the
angle of the river. To counteract this plan, the American General
stationed a few gallies to watch the movements of his enemy below, and
aid in repelling any effort to pass over to the Pennsylvania shore;
and made such a disposition of his little army as to guard against any
attempt to force a passage above, which he believed to be the real
design.
Having made his arrangements, he waited anxiously for reinforcements;
and, in the meantime, sent daily parties over the river to harass the
enemy, and to observe his situation.
The utmost exertions were made by government to raise the militia. In
the hope that a respectable body of continental troops would aid these
exertions, General Washington had directed General Gates, with the
regulars of the northern army, and General Heath, with those at
Peekskill, to march to his assistance.
[Sidenote: Capture of General Lee.]
Although General Lee had been repeatedly urged to join the
Commander-in-chief, he proceeded slowly in the execution of these
orders, manifesting a strong disposition to retain his separate
command, and rather to hang on, and threaten the rear of the British
army, than to strengthen that in its front. With this view he proposed
establishing himself at Morristown. On receiving a letter from General
Washington disapproving this proposition, and urging him to hasten his
march, Lee still avowed a preference for his own plan, and proceeded
reluctantly towards the Delaware. While passing through Morris county,
at the distance of twenty miles from the British encampment, he, very
incautiously, quartered under a slight guard, in a house about three
miles from his army. Information of this circumstance was given by a
countryman to Colonel Harcourt, at that time detached with a body of
cavalry to watch his movements, who immediately formed and executed
the design of seizing him. Early in the morning of the 12th of
December, this officer reached Lee's quarters, who received no
intimation of his danger until the house was surrounded, and he found
himself a prisoner. He was carried off in triumph to the British army,
where he was, for some time, treated as a deserter from the British
service.
This misfortune made a serious impression on all America. The
confidence originally placed in General Lee had been increased by his
success in the southern department, and by a belief that his opinions,
during the military operations in New York, had contributed to the
adoption of those judicious movements which had, in some measure,
defeated the plans of General Howe in that quarter. It was also
believed that he had dissented from the resolution of the council of
war for maintaining forts Washington and Lee. No officer, except the
Commander-in-chief, possessed, at that time, in so eminent a degree,
the confidence of the army, or of the country; and his loss was,
almost universally, bewailed as one of the greatest calamities which
had befallen the American arms. It was regretted by no person more
than by General Washington himself. He respected the merit of that
eccentric veteran, and sincerely lamented his captivity.
General Sullivan, on whom the command of that division devolved after
the capture of Lee, promptly obeyed the orders which had been directed
to that officer; and, crossing the Delaware at Philipsburg, joined the
Commander-in-chief. On the same day General Gates arrived with a few
northern troops. By these and other reinforcements, the army was
augmented to about seven thousand effective men.
[Sidenote: The British go into winter quarters.]
The attempts of the British general to get possession of boats for the
transportation of his army over the Delaware having failed, he gave
indications of an intention to close the campaign, and to retire into
winter quarters. About four thousand men were cantoned on the Delaware
at Trenton, Bordentown, the White Horse, and Mount Holly; and the
remaining part of the army of Jersey was distributed from that river
to the Hackensack. Strong corps were posted at Princeton, Brunswick,
and Elizabethtown.
To intimidate the people, and thereby impede the recruiting service,
was believed to be no inconsiderable inducement with General Howe, for
covering so large a portion of Jersey. To counteract these views,
General Washington ordered three of the regiments from Peekskill to
halt at Morristown, and to unite with about eight hundred militia
assembled at that place under Colonel Ford. General Maxwell was sent
to take command of these troops, with orders to watch the motions of
the enemy, to harass him in his marches, to give intelligence of all
his movements, to keep up the spirits of the militia, and to prevent
the inhabitants from going within the British lines, and taking
protection.
{December 20.}
The short interval between this cantonment of the British troops, and
the recommencement of active operations, was employed by General
Washington in repeating the representations he had so often made to
congress, respecting preparations for the ensuing campaign. The
dangers resulting from a reliance on temporary armies had been fully
exemplified; and his remonstrances on that subject were supported by
that severe experience which corrects while it chastises. In the
course of the campaign, he had suffered greatly from the want of
cavalry, of artillery, and of engineers. His ideas on these important
subjects had been already stated to congress, and were now reurged.
With respect to the additional expense to be incurred by the measures
recommended, he observed, "that our funds were not the only object now
to be taken into consideration. The enemy, it was found, were daily
gathering strength from the disaffected. This strength, like a snow
ball by rolling, would increase, unless some means should be devised
to check effectually the progress of their arms. Militia might
possibly do it for a little while; but in a little while also, the
militia of those states which were frequently called upon would not
turn out at all, or would turn out with so much reluctance and sloth,
as to amount to the same thing. Instance New Jersey! Witness
Pennsylvania! Could any thing but the river Delaware have saved
Philadelphia?
"Could any thing," he asked, "be more destructive of the recruiting
business than giving ten dollars bounty for six weeks service in the
militia, who come in, you can not tell how; go, you can not tell when;
and act, you can not tell where; who consume your provisions, exhaust
your stores, and leave you at last in a critical moment.
"These, sir," he added, "are the men I am to depend upon ten days
hence. This is the basis upon which your cause will rest, and must for
ever depend, until you get a large standing army sufficient of itself
to oppose the enemy."
[Illustration: Washington Crossing the Delaware
_From the painting by Emanuel Leutze, in the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York City._
_On December 8, 1776, following his retreat across New Jersey, with
the British army under Cornwallis pressing him closely, Washington
transported his army of 6,000 men across the Delaware into
Pennsylvania and to safety. He had seized all the boats within seventy
miles, leaving Cornwallis to wait until the river froze over before he
could follow._
_In recrossing the Delaware (as here depicted) to strike the British
at Trenton, Washington executed the most brilliant military maneuver
of his career._
_In his sesquicentennial address delivered at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, July 3, 1925, President Coolidge related this incident
which gives us Cornwallis's estimate of the importance of the Trenton
victory:_
"It is recorded that a few evenings after the surrender of
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown a banquet was given by
Washington and his staff to the British commander and his
staff. One likes to contemplate the sportsmanship of that
function. Amiabilities and good wishes were duly exchanged,
and finally Lord Cornwallis rose to present his compliments
to Washington. There had been much talk of past campaigning
experiences, and Cornwallis, turning to Washington,
expressed the judgment that when history's verdict was made
up 'the brightest garlands for your Excellency will be
gathered, not from the shores of the Chesapeake, but from
the banks of the Delaware.'"]
He also hinted the idea, extremely delicate in itself, of enlarging
his powers so as to enable him to act, without constant applications
to congress for their sanction of measures, the immediate adoption of
which was essential to the public interests. "This might," he said,
"be termed an application for powers too dangerous to be trusted." He
could only answer, "that desperate diseases required desperate
remedies. He could with truth declare that he felt no lust for power,
but wished with as much fervency as any man upon this wide extended
continent, for an opportunity of turning the sword into a ploughshare;
but his feelings as an officer and a man had been such as to force him
to say, that no person ever had a greater choice of difficulties to
contend with than himself."
After recapitulating the measures he had adopted, which were not
within his power, and urging many other necessary arrangements, he
added, "it may be thought I am going a good deal out of the line of my
duty to adopt these measures, or to advise thus freely. A character to
lose; an estate to forfeit; the inestimable blessing of liberty at
stake; and a life devoted, must be my excuse."
The present aspect of American affairs was gloomy in the extreme. The
existing army, except a few regiments, affording an effective force of
about fifteen hundred men, would dissolve in a few days. New Jersey
had, in a great measure, submitted; and the militia of Pennsylvania
had not displayed the alacrity expected from them. General Howe would,
most probably, avail himself of the ice which would soon form, and of
the dissolution of the American army, to pass the Delaware and seize
Philadelphia. This event was dreaded, not only on account of its
intrinsic importance, but of its peculiar effect at this time, when an
army was to be recruited on which the future hopes of America were to
rest. It was feared, and with reason, that it would make such an
impression on the public mind as to deter the American youth from
engaging in a contest becoming desperate.
Impelled by these considerations, General Washington meditated a blow
on the British army, while dispersed in its cantonments, which might
retrieve the affairs of America in the opinion of the public, and
recover the ground that had been lost.
He formed the daring plan of attacking all the British posts on the
Delaware at the same instant. If successful in all, or any of these
attacks, he hoped not only to wipe off the impression made by his
losses, and by his retreat, but also to relieve Philadelphia from
immediate danger, and to compel his adversary to compress himself in
such a manner as no longer to cover the Jerseys.
The positions taken to guard the river were equally well adapted to
offensive operations.
The regulars were posted above Trenton from Yardley's up to Coryell's
Ferry. The Pennsylvania flying camp, and Jersey militia, under the
command of General Irvine, extended from Yardley's to the ferry
opposite Bordentown; and General Cadwallader with the Pennsylvania
militia lay still lower down the river.
In the plan of attack which had been digested, it was proposed to
cross in the night at M'Konkey's Ferry, about nine miles above
Trenton; to march down in two divisions, the one taking the river
road, and the other the Pennington road, both which lead into the
town; the first, towards that part of the western side which
approaches the river, and the last towards the north. This part of the
plan was to be executed by the General in person, at the head of about
two thousand four hundred continental troops. It was thought
practicable to pass them over the river by twelve, and to reach the
point of destination by five in the morning of the next day, when the
attack was to be made. General Irvine was directed to cross at the
Trenton Ferry, and to secure the bridge below the town, in order to
prevent the escape of the enemy by that road. General Cadwallader was
to pass over at Dunk's Ferry, and carry the post at Mount Holly. It
had been in contemplation to unite the troops employed in fortifying
Philadelphia, to those at Bristol, and to place the whole under
General Putnam; but such indications were given in that city of an
insurrection of the royal cause, that this part of the plan was
abandoned. The cold on the night of the 25th was very severe. Snow,
mingled with hail and rain, fell in great quantities, and so much ice
was made in the river that, with every possible exertion, the division
conducted by the General in person could not effect its passage until
three, nor commence its march down the river till near four. As the
distance to Trenton by either road is nearly the same, orders were
given to attack at the instant of arrival, and, after driving in the
out-guards, to press rapidly after them into the town, and prevent the
main body from forming.