A SAD YEAR.
Christ-mas night was the time set to cross the Del-a-ware, and at
sun-set the troops were on the move. It was a dark, cold night. The
wind was high, the tide strong, and the stream full of cakes of ice
which drove the boats out of their course. It seemed at times as if
the boats would be crushed to bits, Men who were used to boats, and
had been brought up on the sea, and had fought with fierce storms and
wild gales, found it hard work, with all their skill, to make their
way from shore to shore.
Wash-ing-ton, who crossed with the troops, stood on the east bank till
all the field-guns were brought to land, and it was four o'clock ere
the men took up their line of march. Tren-ton was nine miles off, and
they could not reach there till day-light, too late to take the King's
troops off their guard.
Most of the troops at Tren-ton were Hes-sians, from Hesse, a small
Ger-man state whose prince had lent his troops to King George for
hire. As I have told you they were in charge of Rahl. Rahl thought
more of his brass band than he did of his men, was full of good cheer
and liked to have a good time. He would sit up till a late hour in the
night, and then lie in bed till nine o'clock the next day.
The one who leads troops to war should be like a watch-dog, quick to
see and to hear all that goes on, and to be on guard at all times.
Each day he had the guns drawn out and dragged through the town, just
to make a stir and have the band out. But when the Ma-jor told him
that he should have earth-works thrown up on which to place the guns
he said, "Pooh! pooh! Let the foe come on! We'll charge on them with
the bay-o-net!"
"But Herr Col-o-nel," said the old Ma-jor, "it costs not much, and if
it does not help it will not harm."
But Rahl laughed as if he thought it a good joke, turned on his heel
and went off, and the works were not thrown up.
On this night, too, there was a great stir in the camp at Tren-ton,
for the men did their best to keep Christ-mas, and their thoughts were
of home and the dear ones there. They made what cheer they could, and
did not dream that the foe was so near.
A storm of hail and snow set in as soon as our troops took up their
march. They could scarce see their way through the sleet they had to
face. The night was so cold that two of the men froze to death. At
dawn of day some of the men came to a halt at a cross-road, where they
did their best to dry their guns. But some were past use, and word was
sent to Wash-ing-ton of the state of their arms. They were in doubt
what to do.
Wash-ing-ton in a burst of rage bade the man go back to his chief at
once, and tell him to push on and charge if he could not fire.
At eight o'clock Wash-ing-ton drew near the town at the head of his
troops. He went up to a man who had come out to chop wood by the
road-side and asked him where the guard was who stood at the out-post
of Rahl's camp.
The man said in a harsh voice, "I don't know."
"You may tell him," said one of our men who stood near, "for that is
Gen-er-al Wash-ing-ton."
At once a great change came o'er the man to whom Wash-ing-ton spoke.
He raised his hands, and cried, "God bless you! God bless you!" and
then showed where the guards could be found.
Soon was heard the cry from Rahl's men, "The foe! the foe! turn out!
turn out!" Drums beat to arms. The whole place was in a stir.
Wash-ing-ton came in on the north, Sul-li-van on the west, and Stark
at the south end of the town.
Rahl scarce knew how to act. He rode to the front of his troops and
got them out of the town. Then he seemed to feel that it was a shame
to fly in that way, for he was a brave man, so he led his men back in
a wild dash out of the woods and in-to the town to meet the foe.
In the midst of the fight, a shot struck him and he fell from his
horse. The troops would heed no voice but that of their chief, and
fled up the banks of a creek on the way to Prince-ton.
Wash-ing-ton saw the stir and thought they had wheeled to form a new
line. He was told that they had laid down their arms, and his joy was
great. The day was ours!
But for the wild flight of Rahl's men, it would have gone hard with
our troops. Wash-ing-ton did not know it at the time, but he found out
that Ew-ing and Put-nam had tried to cross the stream but were kept
back by the ice, and he with his raw troops would, he was sure, have
been put to rout had Rahl and his men been on their guard.
The poor Ma-jor, who had in vain urged Rahl to throw up breast-works,
had a bad wound of which he died in Tren-ton; and Rahl him-self, to
whom the red-coats owed their ill-luck, was laid to rest in a
grave-yard in that town.
And where was Gen-er-al Howe all this time? In New York, where he
thought to take his ease till the Del-a-ware froze so that his troops
could cross. He was much shocked at the news that the Hes-sians who
had been brought up to war should have laid down their arms for a
troop of raw men in rags. He sent Lord Corn-wal-lis back to take
Jer-sey, and, as he said, "to bag the fox."
By the third of Jan-u-a-ry red-coats, with Corn-wal-lis at their head,
were near at hand. Wash-ing-ton was in a tight place, with a small
creek 'twixt his few raw troops and the large force of the foe. Back
of him lay the Del-a-ware which it was now not safe to cross.
In this dark hour a gleam of hope came to his mind. He saw a way out
of the trap, and that was by a quick night-march to get at the rear of
the King's troops, dash on the camp at Prince-ton, seize the stores
that were left there, and push on to New Bruns-wick.
A thaw had set in which made the roads deep with mire, but in the
course of the night the wind veered to the north, and in two hours
the roads were once more hard and frost-bound.
That the foe might not guess his plan, Wash-ing-ton bade some of his
men keep at work with their spades on the pits near the bridge, go the
rounds, change guards at each bridge and ford, and keep up the
camp-fires till day-break, when they were to join those on the way to
Prince-ton.
In the dead of the night Wash-ing-ton drew his troops out of camp and
the march took place. The road which they had to take was cut through
woods, and the stumps of the trees made the march a slow one, so that
it was near sun-rise when Wash-ing-ton came to the bridge at the brook
three miles from Prince-ton.
As our troops left the woods they came face to face with a force of
red-coats, and a sharp fight took place, which did not last long.
Wash-ing-ton was in the midst of it. In the heat of the fight, his
aide-de-camp lost sight of him in the dusk and smoke. The young man
dropped the reins on the neck of his horse, drew down his cap to hide
the tears in his eyes, and gave him up for lost. When he saw
Wash-ing-ton come out from the cloud with his hat raised and the foe
in flight, he spurred up to his side.
"Thank God you are safe!" cried he.
"A-way, and bring up the troops," said Wash-ing-ton, "the day is our
own!"
At day-break, when Gen-er-al Howe thought to bag his fox, he found the
prize had slipped from his grasp, and soon learned that the King's
troops had lost their hold on New Jer-sey.
The fame of Wash-ing-ton, and of the brave deeds of those who fought
to be free, went a-cross the sea, and made friends for him and the
cause. Not a few came to their aid. One of these brave souls was a
Pole, whose name was Kos-ci-us-ko.
The com-mand-er-in-chief said to him "What do you seek here?"
"To fight for the cause you have at heart."
"What can you do?"
"Try me."
This style of speech, and the air of the man, pleased Wash-ing-ton so
well that he at once made him an aide-de-camp. This was in 1777. He
served the cause well, and went back to his own land in 1786 with the
rank of Brig-a-dier Gen-er-al.
In 1777 La-fay-ette came from France to join the troops led by
Wash-ing-ton. He had wealth and high rank in his own land, and had
lived but a score of years. He left his young wife, and the gay court
of France, and made his way to A-mer-i-ca to do what he could to aid
the foes of King George.
He came, he said, to learn and not to teach, and would serve with-out
pay, and as one who came of his own free-will.
He soon won his way to the heart of Wash-ing-ton, and a strong bond of
love grew up 'twixt the two which naught but death could break.
In the mean-time the whole of our land south of the Great Lakes was a
scene of strife and blood-shed, and it was hard work for our troops to
keep the red-skins and red-coats at bay.
I have not space to tell you of all the fights that took place, nor
the ways in which Wash-ing-ton sought to vex the King's troops.
On the third of Oc-to-ber of this year--1777--we find him at
Ger-man-town, where the main force of the red-coats were in camp. His
plan was to drive them out, but though his troops fought with much
skill and in the midst of a dense fog, they were forced back, and the
day was lost.
The ships-of-war in the Del-a-ware led Wash-ing-ton to think that Lord
Howe meant to turn his guns on Phil-a-del-phi-a, and his mind was
filled with doubts and fears.
In the same month word came to him that Bur-goyne--who was at the
head of the King's troops in the north--had been forced to yield to
Gen-er-al Gates at Fish-kill. This was such a blow to the King's
cause that the troops at West Point and else where on the Hud-son,
who were to have gone to the aid of Bur-goyne, left the forts and made
their way to New York.