The British land at Frog's Neck.... The American army
evacuates York Island, except fort Washington.... Both
armies move towards the White Plains.... Battle of the White
Plains.... The British army returns to Kingsbridge....
General Washington crosses the North river.... The lines of
fort Washington carried by the British, and the garrison
made prisoners.... Evacuation of fort Lee.... Weakness of
the American army.... Ineffectual attempts to raise the
militia.... General Washington retreats through Jersey....
General Washington crosses the Delaware.... Danger of
Philadelphia.... Capture of General Lee.... The British go
into winter quarters.... Battle of Trenton.... Of
Princeton.... Firmness of congress.
{1776}
{October 9.}
The armies did not long retain their position on York Island. General
Howe was sensible of the strength of the American camp, and was not
disposed to force it. His plan was to compel General Washington to
abandon it, or to give battle in a situation in which a defeat must be
attended with the total destruction of his army. With this view, after
throwing up entrenchments on M'Gowan's hill for the protection of New
York, he determined to gain the rear of the American camp, by the New
England road, and also to possess himself of the North river above
Kingsbridge. To assure himself of the practicability of acquiring the
command of the river, three frigates passed up it under the fire from
fort Washington, and from the opposite post on the Jersey shore,
afterwards called fort Lee, without sustaining any injury from the
batteries, or being impeded by the chevaux-de-frise which had been
sunk in the channel between those forts.
{Twelfth.}
[Sidenote: The enemy land at Frog's Neck.]
This point being ascertained, he embarked a great part of his army on
board flat bottomed boats, and, passing through Hurl Gate into the
Sound, landed at Frog's Neck, about nine miles from the camp on the
heights of Haerlem.
In consequence of this movement, Washington strengthened the post at
Kingsbridge, and detached some regiments to West Chester for the
purpose of skirmishing with the enemy, so soon as he should march from
the ground he occupied. The road from Frog's Point to Kingsbridge
leads through a strong country, intersected by numerous stone fences,
so as to render it difficult to move artillery, or even infantry, in
compact columns, except along the main road, which had been broken up
in several places. The General, therefore, entertained sanguine hopes
of the event, should a direct attack be made on his camp.
General Howe continued some days waiting for his artillery, military
stores, and reinforcements from Staten Island, which were detained by
unfavourable winds.
{October 16.}
[Sidenote: The American army evacuates York island except Fort
Washington.]
In the mean time, as the habits of thinking in America required that
every important measure should be the result of consultation, and
should receive the approbation of a majority, the propriety of
removing the American army from its present situation was submitted to
a council of the general officers. After much investigation, it was
declared to be impracticable, without a change of position, to keep up
their communication with the country, and avoid being compelled to
fight under great disadvantages, or to surrender themselves prisoners
of war. General Lee, who had just arrived from the south, and whose
experience as well as late success gave great weight to his opinions,
urged the necessity of this movement with much earnestness. It was, at
the same time, determined to hold fort Washington, and to defend it as
long as possible. A resolution of congress of the 11th of October,
desiring General Washington, by every art and expense, to obstruct, if
possible, the navigation of the river, contributed, not
inconsiderably, to this determination.
In pursuance of this opinion of the military council, measures were
taken for moving the army up the North River, so as to extend its
front, or left, towards the White Plains, beyond the British right,
and thus keep open its communication with the country. The right, or
rear division, remained a few days longer about Kingsbridge under the
command of General Lee, for the security of the heavy baggage and
military stores, which, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining
wagons, could be but slowly removed.
{October 18.}
General Howe, after uniting his forces at Pell's Point, moved forward
his whole army, except four brigades destined for the defence of New
York, through Pelham's manor, towards New Rochelle. Some skirmishes
took place on the march with a part of Glover's brigade, in which the
conduct of the Americans was mentioned with satisfaction by the
Commander-in-chief; and, as General Howe took post at New Rochelle, a
village on the Sound, General Washington occupied the heights between
that place and the North River.
{October 21.}
[Sidenote: Both armies move towards the White Plains.]
At New Rochelle, the British army was joined by the second division of
Germans, under the command of General Knyphausen, and by an incomplete
regiment of cavalry from Ireland; some of whom had been captured on
their passage. Both armies now moved towards the White Plains, a
strong piece of ground already occupied by a detachment of militia.
The main body of the American troops formed a long line of entrenched
camps, extending from twelve to thirteen miles, on the different
heights from Valentine's Hill, near Kingsbridge, to the White Plains,
fronting the British line of march, and the Brunx, which divided the
two armies. The motions of General Howe were anxiously watched, not
only for the purposes of security, and of avoiding a general action,
but in order to seize any occasion which might present itself of
engaging his out-posts with advantage. While the British army lay at
New Rochelle, the position of a corps of American loyalists commanded
by Major Rogers was supposed to furnish such an occasion. He was
advanced, farther eastward, to Mamaraneck, on the Sound, where he was
believed to be covered by the other troops. An attempt was made to
surprise him in the night, by a detachment which should pass between
him and the main body of the British army, and, by a coup de main,
bear off his whole corps. Major Rogers was surprised, and about sixty
of his regiment killed and taken. The loss of the Americans was only
two killed, and eight or ten wounded; among the latter was Major Green
of Virginia, a brave officer, who led the detachment, and who received
a ball through his body.
Not long afterwards, a regiment of Pennsylvania riflemen, under
Colonel Hand, engaged an equal number of Hessian chasseurs, with some
advantage.
The caution of the English general was increased by these evidences of
enterprise in his adversary. His object seems to have been to avoid
skirmishes, and to bring on a general action, if that could be
effected under favourable circumstances; if not, he calculated on
nearly all the advantages of a victory from the approaching
dissolution of the American army. He proceeded therefore slowly. His
march was in close order, his encampments compact, and well guarded
with artillery; and the utmost circumspection was used to leave no
vulnerable point.
{October 25.}
As the sick and baggage reached a place of safety, General Washington
gradually drew in his out-posts, and took possession of the heights on
the east side of the Brunx, fronting the head of the British columns,
at the distance of seven or eight miles from them. The next day, he
was joined by General Lee, who, after securing the sick and the
baggage, had, with considerable address, brought up the rear division
of the army; an operation the more difficult as the deficiency of
teams was such that a large portion of the labour usually performed by
horses or oxen, devolved on men.
General Washington was encamped on high broken ground, with his right
flank on the Brunx. This stream meandered so as also to cover the
front of his right wing, which extended along the road leading towards
New Rochelle, as far as the brow of the hill where his centre was
posted. His left, which formed almost a right angle with his centre,
and was nearly parallel to his right, extended along the hills
northward, so as to keep possession of the commanding ground, and
secure a retreat, should it be necessary, to a still stronger position
in his rear.
On the right of the army, and on the west side of the Brunx, about one
mile from camp, on a road leading from the North River, was a hill, of
which General M'Dougal was ordered to take possession, for the purpose
of covering the right flank. His detachment consisted of about sixteen
hundred men, principally militia; and his communication with the main
army was open, that part of the Brunx being passable without
difficulty.
Intrenchments were thrown up to strengthen the lines.
General Howe, having made arrangements to attack Washington in his
camp, advanced early in the morning in two columns, the right
commanded by Sir Henry Clinton, and the left by General Knyphausen;
and, about ten, his van appeared in full view, on which a cannonade
commenced without much execution on either side.
{October 28.}
[Sidenote: Battle of the White Plains.]
The British right formed behind a rising ground, about a mile in front
of the American camp, and extending from the road leading from
Mamaraneck towards the Brunx, stood opposed to the American centre.
On viewing Washington's situation, Howe, who accompanied Knyphausen,
determined to carry the hill occupied by M'Dougal, as preliminary to
an attack on the centre and right of the American camp. He therefore
directed Colonel Rawle, with a brigade of Hessians, to cross the Brunx
and make a circuit so as to turn M'Dougal's right flank, while
Brigadier General Leslie, with a strong corps of British and Hessian
troops should attack him in front. When Rawle had gained his position,
the detachment commanded by Leslie also crossed the Brunx, and
commenced a vigorous attack.[45] The militia in the front line
immediately fled; but the regulars maintained their ground with great
gallantry. Colonel Smallwood's regiment of Maryland, and Colonel
Reitzimer's of New York, advanced boldly towards the foot of the hill
to meet Leslie, but, after a sharp encounter, were overpowered by
numbers, and compelled to retreat. General Leslie then attacked the
remaining part of M'Dougal's forces, who were soon driven from the
hill, but kept up for some time an irregular fire from the stone walls
about the scene of action. General Putnam, with Real's brigade, was
ordered to support them; but not having arrived till the hill was
lost, the attempt to regain it was deemed unadviseable, and the troops
retreated to the main army.
[Footnote 45: General Howe's letter.]
In this animated engagement, the loss was supposed to be nearly equal.
That of the Americans was between three and four hundred in killed,
wounded, and taken. Colonel Smallwood was among the wounded.
General Washington continued in his lines expecting an assault. But a
considerable part of the day having been exhausted in gaining the hill
which had been occupied by M'Dougal, the meditated attempt on his
intrenchments was postponed until the next morning; and the British
army lay on their arms the following night, in order of battle, on the
ground taken during the day.
{October 30.}
This interval was employed by General Washington in strengthening his
works, removing his sick and baggage, and preparing for the expected
attack by adopting the arrangement of his troops to the existing state
of things. His left maintained its position; but his right was drawn
back to stronger ground. Perceiving this, and being unwilling to leave
any thing to hazard, Howe resolved to postpone farther offensive
operations, until Lord Percy should arrive with four battalions from
New York, and two from Mamaraneck. This reinforcement was received on
the evening of the thirtieth, and preparations were then made to force
the American intrenchments the next morning. In the night, and during
the early part of the succeeding day, a violent rain still farther
postponed the assault.
Having now removed his provisions and heavy baggage to much stronger
ground, and apprehending that the British general, whose left wing
extended along the height, taken from M'Dougal, to his rear, might
turn his camp, and occupy the strong ground to which he designed to
retreat, should an attempt on his lines prove successful, General
Washington changed his position in the night, and withdrew to the
heights of North Castle, about five miles from the White Plains.
{November 1.}
Deeming this position too strong to be attempted with prudence,
General Howe determined to change his plan of operations, and to give
a new direction to his efforts.[46]
[Footnote 46: General Howe's letter.]
While forts Washington and Lee were held by the Americans, his
movements were checked, and York Island insecure. With a view to the
acquisition of these posts, he directed General Knyphausen to take
possession of Kingsbridge, which was defended by a small party of
Americans placed in fort Independence. On his approach, this party
retreated to fort Washington; and Knyphausen encamped between that
place and Kingsbridge.
{November 5.}
[Sidenote: The British army returns to Kingsbridge.]
In the mean time, General Howe retired slowly down the North River.
His designs were immediately penetrated by the American general, who
perceived the necessity of passing a part of his army into Jersey, but
was restrained from immediately leaving the strong ground he occupied
by the apprehension that his adversary might, in that event, return
suddenly and gain his rear. A council of war was called, which
determined unanimously, that, should General Howe continue his march
towards New York, all the troops raised on the west side of the Hudson
should cross that river, to be afterwards followed by those raised in
the eastern part of the continent, leaving three thousand men for the
defence of the Highlands about the North river.
In a letter to congress communicating this movement of the British
army, and this determination of the council, the general said, "I can
not indulge the idea that General Howe, supposing him to be going to
New York, means to close the campaign, and to sit down without
attempting something more. I think it highly probable, and almost
certain, that he will make a descent with part of his troops into the
Jerseys; and, as soon as I am satisfied that the present manoeuvre is
real, and not a feint, I shall use all the means in my power to
forward a part of our force to counteract his designs.
"I expect the enemy will bend their force against fort Washington, and
invest it immediately. From some advices, it is an object that will
attract their earliest attention."
He also addressed a letter to the governor of New Jersey, expressing a
decided opinion that General Howe would not content himself with
investing fort Washington, but would invade the Jerseys; and urging
him to put the militia in the best possible condition to reinforce the
army, and to take the place of the new levies, who could not, he
suggested, be depended on to continue in service one day longer than
the first of December, the time for which they were engaged.
Immediate intelligence of this movement was likewise given to General
Greene, who commanded in the Jerseys; and his attention was
particularly pointed to fort Washington.
As the British army approached Kingsbridge, three ships of war passed
up the North River, notwithstanding the fire from forts Washington and
Lee, and notwithstanding the additional obstructions which had been
placed in the channel.
{November 8.}
On being informed of this, another letter was addressed to General
Greene, stating that this fact was so plain a proof of the inefficacy
of all the obstructions thrown in the river, as to justify a change in
the dispositions which had been made. "If," continued the letter, "we
can not prevent vessels from passing up, and the enemy are possessed
of the surrounding country, what valuable purpose can it answer to
attempt to hold a post from which the expected benefit can not be
derived? I am therefore inclined to think it will not be prudent to
hazard the men and stores at Mount Washington; but as you are on the
spot, I leave it to you to give such orders respecting the evacuation
of the place, as you may think most adviseable; and so far revoke the
orders given to Colonel Magaw to defend it to the last."
Measures were now taken to cross the North River with the troops which
had been raised on its western side, and General Washington determined
to accompany that division of the army. The eastern regiments remained
on the eastern side of the river, under the command of General Lee,
with orders to join the Commander-in-chief, should the British army
cross the Hudson.
[Sidenote: And General Washington with a part of his army crosses the
North River.]
After visiting the posts about Peekskill, and making all the
arrangements in his power for their defence, General Washington passed
the North River in the rear of the troops designed to act in the
Jerseys, and proceeded to the quarters of General Greene, near fort
Lee.
From too great a confidence[47] in the strength of fort Washington,
and a conviction of its importance, General Greene had not withdrawn
its garrison under the discretionary orders he had received, but still
indulged a hope that the post might be maintained, or, should its
situation become desperate, that means might be found to transport the
troops across the river to the Jersey shore, which was defended by
fort Lee.
[Footnote 47: Extract of a letter from General Greene, dated
September 11th, 1778.
"Remember the effect that the loss of the garrison of fort
Washington had; there were men enough to have defended
themselves against all the army had they not been struck
with a panic; but, being most of them irregular troops, they
lost their confidence when the danger began to grow
pressing, and so fell a prey to their own fears."--_Life of
Greene_, v. 1, p. 121.]
Mount Washington is a high piece of rocky ground, near the North
River, very difficult of ascent, especially towards the north, or
Kingsbridge. The fort was capable of containing about one thousand
men; but the lines and out-works, which were chiefly on the southern
side, towards New York, were drawn quite across the island. The ground
was naturally strong, the approaches difficult, and the
fortifications, though not sufficient to resist heavy artillery, were
believed to be in a condition to resist any attempt to carry them by
storm. The garrison consisted of troops, some of whom were among the
best in the American army; and the command had been given to Colonel
Magaw, a brave and intelligent officer, in whom great confidence was
placed.
{November 13.}
{Fifteenth.}
General Howe, after retiring from the White Plains, encamped at a
small distance from Kingsbridge, on the heights of Fordham; and,
having made the necessary preparations for an assault, summoned the
garrison to surrender, on pain of being put to the sword. Colonel
Magaw replied, that he should defend the place to the last extremity,
and communicated the summons to General Greene at fort Lee, who
transmitted it to the Commander-in-chief, then at Hackensack. He
immediately rode to fort Lee, and, though it was late in the night,
was proceeding to fort Washington, where he expected to find Generals
Putnam and Greene, when, in crossing the river, he met those officers
returning from a visit to that fort. They reported that the garrison
was in high spirits, and would make a good defence; on which he
returned with them to fort Lee.
{November 16.}
Early next morning, Colonel Magaw posted his troops, partly on a
commanding hill north of the fort, partly in the outermost of the
lines drawn across the island on the south of the fort, and partly
between those lines, on the woody and rocky heights fronting Haerlem
River, where the ground being extremely difficult of ascent, the works
were not closed. Colonel Rawlings, of Maryland, commanded on the hill
towards Kingsbridge; Colonel Cadwallader, of Pennsylvania, in the
lines, and Colonel Magaw himself continued in the fort.
The strength of the place had not deterred the British general from
resolving to carry it by storm; and, on receiving the answer of
Colonel Magaw, arrangements were made for a vigorous attack next day.
About ten, the assailants appeared before the works, and moved to the
assault in four different quarters. Their first division consisting of
Hessians and Waldeckers, amounting to about five thousand men, under
the command of General Knyphausen, advanced on the north side of the
fort, against the hill occupied by Colonel Rawlings, who received them
with great gallantry. The second, on the east, consisting of the
British light infantry and guards, was led by Brigadier General
Matthews, supported by Lord Cornwallis, at the head of the grenadiers
and the thirty-third regiment. These troops crossed Haerlem River in
boats, under cover of the artillery planted in the works, which had
been erected on the opposite side of the river, and landed within the
third line of defence which crossed the island. The third division was
conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Stirling, who passed the river higher
up; and the fourth by Lord Percy, accompanied by General Howe in
person. This division was to attack the lines in front, on the south
side.[48]
[Footnote 48: General Howe's letter.]
The attacks on the north and south by General Knyphausen and Lord
Percy, were made about the same instant, on Colonels Rawlings and
Cadwallader, who maintained their ground for a considerable time; but,
while Colonel Cadwallader was engaged in the first line against Lord
Percy, the second and third divisions which had crossed Haerlem River
made good their landing, and dispersed the troops fronting that river,
as well as a detachment sent by Colonel Cadwallader to support them.
Thus being overpowered, and the British advancing between the fort and
the lines, it became necessary to abandon them. In retreating to the
fort, some of the men were intercepted by the division under Colonel
Stirling, and made prisoners.
The resistance on the north was of longer duration. Rawlings
maintained his ground with firmness, and his riflemen did vast
execution. A three gun battery also played on Knyphausen with great
effect. At length, the Hessian columns gained the summit of the hill;
after which, Colonel Rawlings, who perceived the danger which
threatened his rear, retreated under the guns of the fort.
[Sidenote: The lines of Fort Washington carried by the enemy, and the
garrison made prisoners.]
Having carried the lines, and all the strong ground adjoining them,
the British general again summoned Colonel Magaw to surrender. While
the capitulation was in a course of arrangement, General Washington
sent him a billet, requesting him to hold out until the evening, when
means should be attempted to bring off the garrison. But Magaw had
proceeded too far to retreat; and it is probable the place could not
have resisted an assault from so formidable a force as threatened it.
The greatest difficulties had been overcome; the fort was too small to
contain all the men; and their ammunition was nearly exhausted. Under
these circumstances the garrison became prisoners of war.
The loss on this occasion was the greatest the Americans had ever
sustained. The garrison was stated by General Washington at about two
thousand men. Yet, in a report published as from General Howe, the
number of prisoners is said to be two thousand and six hundred,
exclusive of officers. Either General Howe must have included in his
report persons who were not soldiers, or General Washington must have
comprehended the regulars only in his letter. The last conjecture is
most probably correct. The loss of the assailants, according to Mr.
Stedman, amounted to eight hundred men. This loss fell heaviest on the
Germans.
[Sidenote: Evacuation of Fort Lee.]
{November 18.}
On the surrender of fort Washington, it was determined to evacuate
fort Lee; and a removal of the stores was immediately commenced.
Before this operation could be completed, a detachment commanded by
Lord Cornwallis, amounting to about six thousand men, crossed the
North River below Dobb's ferry, and endeavoured, by a rapid march, to
enclose the garrison between the North and Hackensack Rivers. An
immediate retreat from that narrow neck of land had become
indispensable, and was with difficulty effected. All the heavy cannon
at fort Lee, except two twelve-pounders, with a considerable quantity
of provisions and military stores, including three hundred tents, were
lost. After crossing the Hackensack, General Washington posted his
troops along the western bank of that river, but was unable to dispute
its passage at the head of about three thousand effectives, exposed,
without tents, in an inclement season; he was in a level country,
without a single intrenching tool, among people far from being zealous
in the American cause. In other respects this situation was dangerous.
The Passaic, in his rear, after running several miles nearly parallel
to the Hackensack, unites with that river below the ground occupied by
the Americans, who were consequently still exposed to the hazard of
being inclosed between two rivers.
{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.
[Sidenote: Battle of Trenton.]
{December 26.}
General Washington accompanied the upper column, and arriving at the
out-post on that road, precisely at eight, drove it in, and, in three
minutes, heard the fire from the column which had taken the river
road. The picket guard attempted to keep up a fire while retreating,
but was pursued with such ardour as to be unable to make a stand.
Colonel Rawle, who commanded in the town, paraded his men, and met the
assailants. In the commencement of the action, he was mortally
wounded, upon which the troops, in apparent confusion, attempted to
gain the road to Princeton. General Washington threw a detachment into
their front, while he advanced rapidly on them in person. Finding
themselves surrounded, and their artillery already seized, they laid
down their arms, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. About
twenty of the enemy were killed, and about one thousand made
prisoners. Six field pieces, and a thousand stand of small arms were
also taken. On the part of the Americans, two privates were killed;
two frozen to death; and one officer, Lieutenant Monroe,[50] of the
third Virginia regiment, and three or four privates wounded.
[Footnote 50: Since President of the United States.]
Unfortunately, the ice rendered it impracticable for General Irvine to
execute that part of the plan which was allotted to him. With his
utmost efforts, he was unable to cross the river; and the road towards
Bordentown remained open. About five hundred men, among whom was a
troop of cavalry, stationed in the lower end of Trenton, availed
themselves of this circumstance, and crossing the bridge in the
commencement of the action, escaped down the river. The same cause
prevented General Cadwallader from attacking the post at Mount Holly.
With great difficulty a part of his infantry passed the river, but
returned on its being found absolutely impracticable to cross with the
artillery.
Although this plan failed in so many of its parts, the success
attending that which was conducted by General Washington in person was
followed by the happiest effects.
Had it been practicable for the divisions under Generals Irvine and
Cadwallader to cross the river, it was intended to proceed from
Trenton to the posts at and about Bordentown, to sweep the British
from the banks of the Delaware,[51] and to maintain a position in the
Jerseys. But finding that those parts of the plan had failed, and
supposing the British to remain in force below, while a strong corps
was posted at Princeton, General Washington thought it unadviseable to
hazard the loss of the very important advantage already gained, by
attempting to increase it, and recrossed the river with his prisoners
and military stores. Lieutenant Colonel Baylor, his aid-de-camp, who
carried the intelligence of this success to congress, was presented
with a horse completely caparisoned for service, and recommended to
the command of a regiment of cavalry.
[Footnote 51: A fact has been stated to the author which
shows to what an extent the plan might have been executed
had it been possible to cross the river. Colonel Reed, who
was with the division of Cadwallader, passed the ferry with
the van of the infantry, and immediately despatched some
trusty persons to examine the situation of the troops at
Mount Holly. The report made by his messengers was, that
they had looked into several houses in which the soldiers
were quartered, and had found them generally fast asleep,
under the influence, as was supposed, of the spirituous
liquors they had drunk the preceding day, which was
Christmas-day. That there appeared to be no apprehension of
danger, nor precaution against it.]
Nothing could surpass the astonishment of the British commander at
this unexpected display of vigour on the part of the American General.
His condition, and that of his country, had been thought desperate. He
had been deserted by all the troops having a legal right to leave him;
and, to render his situation completely ruinous, nearly two-thirds of
the continental soldiers still remaining with him, would be entitled
to their discharge on the first day of January. There appeared to be
no probability of prevailing on them to continue longer in the
service, and the recruiting business was absolutely at an end. The
spirits of a large proportion of the people were sunk to the lowest
point of depression. New Jersey appeared to be completely subdued; and
some of the best judges of the public sentiment were of opinion that
immense numbers in Pennsylvania, also, were determined not to permit
the sixty days allowed in the proclamation of Lord and Sir William
Howe, to elapse, without availing themselves of the pardon it
proffered. Instead of offensive operations, the total dispersion of
the small remnant of the American army was to be expected, since it
would be rendered too feeble by the discharge of those engaged only
until the last day of December, to attempt, any longer, the defence of
the Delaware, which would by that time, in all probability, be
passable on the ice. While every appearance supported these opinions,
and the British General, without being sanguine, might well consider
the war as approaching its termination, this bold and fortunate
enterprise announced to him, that he was contending with an adversary
who could never cease to be formidable while the possibility of
resistance remained. Finding the conquest of America more distant than
had been supposed, he determined, in the depth of winter to recommence
active operations; and Lord Cornwallis, who had retired to New York
with the intention of embarking for Europe, suspended his departure,
and returned to the Jerseys in great force, for the purpose of
regaining the ground which had been lost.
Meanwhile, Count Donop, who commanded the troops below Trenton, on
hearing the disaster which had befallen Colonel Rawle, retreated by
the road leading to Amboy, and joined General Leslie at Princeton. The
next day, General Cadwallader crossed the Delaware, with orders to
harass the enemy, but to put nothing to hazard until he should be
joined by the continental battalions, who were allowed a day or two of
repose, after the fatigues of the enterprise against Trenton. General
Mifflin joined General Irvine with about fifteen hundred Pennsylvania
militia, and those troops also crossed the river.
Finding himself once more at the head of a force with which it seemed
practicable to act offensively, the General determined to employ the
winter in endeavouring to recover Jersey.
{December 30.}
With this view, he ordered General Heath to leave a small detachment
at Peekskill, and with the main body of the New England militia, to
enter Jersey, and approach the British cantonments on that side.
General Maxwell was ordered, with all the militia he could collect, to
harass their flank and rear, and to attack their out-posts on every
favourable occasion, while the continental troops, led by himself,
recrossed the Delaware, and took post at Trenton. On the last day of
December, the regulars of New England were entitled to a discharge.
With great difficulty, and a bounty of ten dollars, many of them were
induced to renew their engagements for six weeks.
{1777}
{January 1.}
The British were now collected in force at Princeton under Lord
Cornwallis; and appearances confirmed the intelligence, secretly[52]
obtained, that he intended to attack the American army.
[Footnote 52: In this critical moment, when correct
intelligence was so all important, Mr. Robert Morris raised
on his private credit in Philadelphia, five hundred pounds
in specie, which he transmitted to the Commander-in-chief,
who employed it in procuring information not otherwise to
have been obtained.]
Generals Mifflin and Cadwallader, who lay at Bordentown and Crosswix,
with three thousand six hundred militia, were therefore ordered to
join the Commander-in-chief, whose whole effective force, with this
addition, did not exceed five thousand men.
{January 2.}
Lord Cornwallis advanced upon him the next morning; and about four in
the afternoon, the van of the British army reached Trenton. On its
approach, General Washington retired across the Assumpinck, a creek
which runs through the town. The British attempted to cross the creek
at several places, but finding all the fords guarded, they desisted
from the attempt, and kindled their fires. The Americans kindled their
fires likewise; and a cannonade was kept up on both sides till dark.
The situation of General Washington was again extremely critical.
Should he maintain his position, he would certainly be attacked next
morning, by a force so very superior, as to render the destruction of
his little army inevitable. Should he attempt to retreat over the
Delaware, the passage of that river had been rendered so difficult by
a few mild and foggy days which had softened the ice, that a total
defeat would be hazarded. In any event, the Jerseys would, once more,
be entirely in possession of the enemy; the public mind again be
depressed; recruiting discouraged; and Philadelphia, a second time, in
the grasp of General Howe.
In this embarrassing state of things, he formed the bold design of
abandoning the Delaware, and marching, by a circuitous route, along
the left flank of the British army, into its rear, at Princeton, where
its strength could not be great; and, after beating the troops at that
place, to move rapidly to Brunswick, where the baggage and principal
magazines of the army lay under a weak guard. He indulged the hope
that this manoeuvre would call the attention of the British general to
his own defence. Should Lord Cornwallis, contrary to every reasonable
calculation, proceed to Philadelphia, nothing worse could happen in
that quarter, than must happen should the American army be driven
before him; and some compensation for that calamity would be obtained
by expelling the enemy completely from Jersey, and cutting up, in
detail, all his parties in that state.
{January 3.}
[Sidenote: Of Princeton.]
This plan being approved by a council of war, preparations were made
for its immediate execution. As soon as it was dark, the baggage was
removed silently to Burlington; and, about one in the morning, after
renewing their fires, and leaving their guards to go the rounds as
usual; the army decamped with perfect silence, and took a circuitous
route along the Quaker road to Princeton, where three British
regiments had encamped the preceding night, two of which commenced
their march early in the morning to join the rear of their army at
Maidenhead. At sunrise, when they had proceeded about two miles, they
saw the Americans on their left, advancing in a direction which would
enter the road in their rear. They immediately faced about, and,
repassing Stony Brook, moved under cover of a copse of wood towards
the American van, which was conducted by General Mercer. A sharp
action ensued, which, however, was not of long duration. The militia,
of which the advanced party was principally composed, soon gave way;
and the few regulars attached to them were not strong enough to
maintain their ground. While exerting himself gallantly to rally his
broken troops, General Mercer was mortally wounded, and the van was
entirely routed. But the fortune of the day was soon changed. The main
body, led by General Washington in person, followed close in the rear,
and attacked the British with great spirit. Persuaded that defeat
would irretrievably ruin the affairs of America, he advanced in the
very front of danger, and exposed himself to the hottest fire of the
enemy. He was so well supported by the same troops who, a few days
before, had saved their country at Trenton, that the British, in turn,
were compelled to give way. Their line was broken, and the two
regiments separated from each other. Colonel Mawhood, who commanded
that in front, and was, consequently, nearest the rear division of the
army, under Lord Cornwallis, retired to the main road, and continued
his march to Maidenhead. The fifty-fifth regiment, which was on the
left, being hard pressed, fled in confusion across the fields into a
back road, leading between Hillsborough and Kingston towards
Brunswick. The vicinity of the British forces at Maidenhead secured
Colonel Mawhood, and General Washington pressed forward to Princeton.
The regiment remaining in that place took post in the college, and
made a show of resistance; but some pieces of artillery being brought
up to play upon that building, it was abandoned, and the greater part
of them became prisoners. A few saved themselves by a precipitate
flight to Brunswick.
In this engagement, rather more than one hundred British were killed
in the field, and near three hundred were taken prisoners. The loss of
the Americans, in killed, was somewhat less, but in their number was
included General Mercer, a valuable officer, who had served with the
Commander-in-chief during his early campaigns in Virginia, and was
greatly esteemed by him. Colonels Haslet and Potter, Captain Neal of
the artillery, Captain Fleming, and five other valuable officers, were
also among the slain.
On the return of day-light, Lord Cornwallis discovered that the
American army had decamped in the night; and immediately conceived the
whole plan. Alarmed at the danger which threatened Brunswick, he
marched with the utmost expedition for that place, and was close in
the rear of the American army before it could leave Princeton.
The situation of General Washington was again perilous in the extreme.
His small army was exhausted with fatigue. His troops had been without
sleep, all of them one night, and some of them, two. They were without
blankets, many of them were bare-footed and otherwise thinly clad, and
were eighteen miles from his place of destination. He was closely
pursued by a superior enemy who must necessarily come up with him
before he could accomplish his designs on Brunswick. Under these
circumstances he abandoned the remaining part of his original plan,
and took the road leading up the country to Pluckemin, where his
troops were permitted to refresh themselves. Lord Cornwallis continued
his march to Brunswick, which he reached in the course of that night.
The sufferings of the American soldiers had been so great from the
severity of the season, and the very active service in which they had
been engaged; their complaints, especially on the part of the militia,
were so loud; their numbers were reducing so fast by returning home,
and by sickness; that General Washington found it impracticable to
continue offensive operations. He retired to Morristown, in order to
put his men under cover, and to give them some repose.
The bold, judicious, and unexpected attacks made at Trenton and
Princeton, had a much more extensive influence than would be supposed
from a mere estimate of the killed and taken. They saved Philadelphia
for the winter; recovered the state of Jersey; and, which was of still
more importance, revived the drooping spirits of the people, and gave
a perceptible impulse to the recruiting service throughout the United
States.
The problem, that a nation can be defended against a permanent force,
by temporary armies, by occasional calls of the husbandman from his
plough to the field, was completely disproved; and, in demonstrating
its fallacy, the independence of America had nearly perished in its
cradle. The utmost efforts were now directed to the creation of an
army for the ensuing campaign, as the only solid basis on which the
hopes of the patriot could rest. During the retreat through the
Jerseys, and while the expectation prevailed that no effectual
resistance could be made to the British armies, some spirited men
indeed were animated to greater and more determined exertions; but
this state of things produced a very different effect on the great
mass, which can alone furnish the solid force of armies. In the middle
states especially, the panic of distrust was perceived. Doubts
concerning the issue of the contest became extensive; and the
recruiting service proceeded so heavily and slowly as to excite the
most anxious solicitude for the future.
The affairs of Trenton and Princeton were magnified into great
victories; and were believed by the body of the people to evidence the
superiority of their army and of their general. The opinion that they
were engaged in hopeless contest, yielded to a confidence that proper
exertions would ensure ultimate success.
This change of opinion was accompanied with an essential change of
conduct; and, although the regiments required by congress were not
completed, they were made much stronger than was believed to be
possible before this happy revolution in the aspect of public affairs.
[Sidenote: Firmness of Congress.]
The firmness of congress throughout the gloomy and trying period which
intervened between the loss of fort Washington and the battle of
Princeton, gives the members of that time a just claim to the
admiration of the world, and to the gratitude of their fellow
citizens. Undismayed by impending dangers, they did not, for an
instant, admit the idea of surrendering the independence they had
declared, and purchasing peace by returning to their colonial
situation. As the British army advanced through Jersey, and the
consequent insecurity of Philadelphia rendered an adjournment from
that place a necessary measure of precaution, their exertions seemed
to increase with their difficulties. They sought to remove the
despondence which was seizing and paralyzing the public mind, by an
address to the states, in which every argument was suggested which
could rouse them to vigorous action. They made the most strenuous
efforts to animate the militia, and impel them to the field, by the
agency of those whose popular eloquence best fitted them for such a
service.
{1776}
{December 20.}
When reassembled at Baltimore, the place to which they had adjourned,
their resolutions exhibited no evidence of confusion or dismay; and
the most judicious efforts were made to repair the mischief produced
by past errors.
{December 27.}
Declaring that, in the present state of things, the very existence of
civil liberty depended on the right execution of military powers, to a
vigorous direction of which, distant, numerous, and deliberative
bodies were unequal, they authorized General Washington to raise
sixteen additional regiments, and conferred upon him, for six months,
almost unlimited powers for the conduct of the war.
Towards the close of 1776, while the tide of fortune was running
strongest against them, some few members, distrusting their ability to
make a successful resistance, proposed to authorize their
commissioners at the court of Versailles to transfer to France the
same monopoly of their trade which Great Britain had possessed.[53]
This proposition is stated to have been relinquished, because it was
believed that concessions of this kind would impair many arguments
which had been used in favour of independence, and disunite the
people. It was next proposed to offer a monopoly of certain enumerated
articles; but the unequal operation of this measure gave to the
proposition a speedy negative. Some proposed offering to France an
offensive and defensive league; but this also was rejected. The more
enlightened members argued that, though the friendship of small states
might be purchased, that of France could not. They alleged that, if
she would risk a war with Great Britain by openly espousing their
cause, she would not be induced to that measure by the prospect of
direct advantages, so much as by a desire to lessen the overgrown
power of a dangerous rival.[54] It was therefore urged that the most
certain means of influencing France to interfere, was an assurance
that the United States were determined to persevere in refusing to
resume their former allegiance. Under the influence of this better
opinion, resolutions were again entered into, directing their
commissioners in Europe to give explicit assurances of their
determination at all events to maintain their independence. Copies of
these resolutions were sent to the principal courts of Europe; and
agents were appointed to solicit their friendship to the new formed
states.[55] These despatches fell into the hands of the British, and
were published by them; a circumstance which promoted the views of
congress, who were persuaded that an apprehension of their coming to
an accommodation with Great Britain constituted a material objection
to the interference of foreign courts, in what was represented as
merely a domestic quarrel. A resolution adopted in the deepest
distress, to listen to no terms of reunion with their parent state,
would, it was believed, convince those who wished for the
dismemberment of the British empire, that sound policy required their
interference so far as to prevent the conquest of the United States.
[Footnote 53: Ramsay.]
[Footnote 54: Ramsay.]
[Footnote 55: Secret Journals of Congress, vol. ii. p. 38,
and post.]