and seeing some of his best troops slaughtered or taken, he uttered, it
is said, an exclamation of anguish. He could, if he saw fit, draw out of
their encampment all the troops, and send them to succor the corps that
were engaged with the enemy; he might also call over all the forces he
had in New York, and order them to take part in the battle. But all
these rëinforcements would by no means have sufficed to render his army
equal to that of the English. Victory having already declared in their
favor, the courage with which it inspired them, and the superiority of
their discipline, cut off all hope of being able to restore the battle.
If Washington had engaged all his troops in the action, it is probable
that the entire army would have been destroyed on this fatal day, and
America reduced to subjection. Great praise, therefore, is due to him
for not having allowed himself, in so grave circumstances, to be
transported into an inconsiderate resolution, and for having preserved
himself and his army for a happier future.
The English were so elated with victory, that eager to profit by their
advantages, they would fain have immediately assaulted the American
camp. But their general manifested more prudence; whether he believed
the intrenchments of the enemy stronger than they really were, or
whether he considered himself already sure of entering New York,
without encountering new perils, he repressed the ardor of his troops.
Afterwards, encamping, in front of the enemy's lines, in the night of
the 28th, he broke ground within six hundred paces of a bastion upon
the left. His intention was to approach by means of trenches, and to
wait till the fleet could cöoperate with the troops.
The situation of the Americans in their camp became extremely
critical. They had, in front, an enemy superior in number, and who
could attack them at any moment with a new advantage. Their
intrenchments were of little moment, and the English, pushing their
works with ardor, had every possibility of success in their favor.[41]
Added to these unfavorable circumstances, the arms and ammunition of
the soldiers had suffered from a powerful and long-continued rain.
Besides, they were worn out with fatigue, and discouraged by defeat.
Thus environed with difficulty and danger, a council of war decided
that to evacuate their position, and retire to New York, was the part
of wisdom and safety.
The accomplishment of this project, however, was a movement attended
with difficulty, but was effected with great skill and judgment, and
with complete success. The commencement of the retreat was appointed
for eight o'clock on the night of the 29th; but a strong north-east
wind and a rapid tide, caused a delay of several hours. In this
extremity, Heaven remarkably favored the fugitive army. A south-east
wind springing up at eleven, essentially facilitated its passage from
the island to the city; and a thick fog hanging over Long Island from
about two in the morning, concealed its movements from the enemy, who
were so near, that the sound of their pickaxes and shovels was heard.
In about half an hour after, the fog cleared away, and the enemy were
seen taking possession of the American lines. General Washington, as
far as possible, inspected every thing. From the commencement of the
action on the morning of the 27th, until the troops were safely across
the East river, he never closed his eyes, and was almost constantly on
horseback. His wisdom and vigilance, with the interposing favor of
Divine Providence, saved the army from destruction.[42]
The defeat experienced by the Americans at Brooklyn, spread a deep
gloom through the army; and excited, on that account, no little
anxiety in the bosom of Washington. It was the first serious loss
which they had sustained--the first reverse which essentially shook
their confidence and weakened their courage.
To Washington and his officers, the great defect in the American army
was apparent. It was twofold--first, the employment of by far too large
a proportion of militia, and secondly, the utter impracticability of
introducing among them that discipline and subordination which could
place them on equal footing with the practised and veteran troops of
the enemy. At length, convinced of the justness of the views of
Washington on these points, congress decided that a regular army should
be formed, in which the soldiers should be enlisted to serve during the
present war; and that it should consist of eighty-eight battalions, to
be raised in all the provinces, according to their respective abilities.
A bounty of twenty dollars, and a grant of land, were offered. At a
subsequent date, soldiers were allowed to enlist for three years; in
which case, however, they were not entitled to the grant of land. Had
congress, at an earlier day, taken this measure to furnish an adequate
army for Washington, both he and the country might have been saved great
anxiety, and a succession of mortifying defeats. And but for the
adoption of the above resolution, it is scarcely possible to predict
what would have been the ultimate fate of the new republic.
Fortunate would it have been for the Americans, had their ill-fortune
terminated in the defeat experienced on Long Island. To other and not
much less mortifying reverses they were destined, ere the deepest
point of depression should be reached.
It was the ardent wish of Washington to retain possession of New York;
but, finding, as he said, in a communication to congress, the militia
"dismayed and intractable," and "leaving the camp in some instances
almost by regiments, by half-ones, and by companies at a time;" he was
compelled to relinquish the place to his enemies, and to abandon,
which he still more regretted, all the heavy artillery, and a large
portion of the baggage, provisions, and military stores. On leaving
the city, the American army took post on Harlem heights.
Here Washington had time to ponder upon his situation, and form his
plan. His army had become seriously reduced, and from the despondency
and dismay which were visible among them, it might become at anytime
still more reduced. On the other hand, the forces of the enemy were
numerous, and withal consisted of regular and well-disciplined
troops. It was futile, therefore, to attempt to maintain offensive
operations against them. Far better in his judgment to risk no general
engagement; but by retiring gradually before them, to lead them as far
as possible from their resources; and in the mean while to inspire his
own troops with courage, by engaging them in skirmishes, where success
was probable. Having adopted this cautious system, he prepared to put
it in practice.
The British army did not long entertain its position on York Island.
The British frigates, having passed up the North river, under a fire
from Fort Washington and the post opposite to it on the Jersey shore,
General Howe embarked a great part of his army in flat-bottomed boats,
and passing through Hurl Gate into the sound, landed at Frog's neck.
The object of the British general was, either to force Washington out
of his present lines, or to inclose him in them. Aware of this design,
General Washington moved a part of his troops from York island to join
those at King's bridge, and detached some regiments to Westchester. A
council of war was now called, and the system of evacuation and
retreating was adopted, with the exception of Fort Washington, for the
defence of which nearly three thousand men were assigned. After a halt
of six days, the royal army advanced, not without considerable
opposition, along the coast of Long Island sound, by New Rochelle, to
White Plains, where the Americans took a strong position behind
intrenchments. This post was maintained for several days, till the
British, having received considerable rëinforcements, General
Washington withdrew to the heights of North Castle, about five miles
from White Plains, where, whether from the strength of his position,
or from the British general having other objects in view, no attempt
at attack was made.
Immediately on leaving White Plains, General Howe directed his
attention to Fort Washington and Fort Lee, as their possession would
secure the navigation of the Hudson, and facilitate the invasion of
New Jersey. On the 15th of November, General Howe, being in readiness
for the assault, summoned the garrison to surrender. Colonel Magaw the
commanding officer, in spirited language, replied, that he should
defend his works to extremity. On the succeeding morning, the British
made the assault in four separate divisions; and, after a brave and
obstinate resistance, surmounted the outworks, and again summoned the
garrison to surrender. His ammunition being nearly expended, and his
force incompetent to repel the numbers which were ready on every side
to assail him, Colonel Magaw surrendered himself and his garrison,
consisting of two thousand men, prisoners of war. The enemy lost in
the assault nearly eight hundred men, mostly Germans. The conquest of
Fort Washington made the evacuation of Fort Lee necessary. Orders
were, therefore, issued to remove the ammunition and stores in it;
but, before much progress had been made in this business, Lord
Cornwallis crossed the Hudson, with a number of battalions, with the
intention to inclose the garrison between the Hackensack and North
rivers. This movement made a precipitate retreat indispensable, which
was happily effected with little loss of men; but the greater part of
the artillery, stores, and baggage, was left for the enemy. The loss
at Fort Washington was heavy. The regiments captured in it were some
of the best troops in the army. The tents, camp-kettles, and stores,
lost at this place and at Fort Lee, could not, during the campaign, be
rëplaced, and for the want of them the men suffered extremely. This
loss was unnecessarily sustained, as those posts ought,
unquestionably, to have been evacuated before General Howe was in a
situation to invest them; and this event was the more to be deplored,
as the American force was daily diminished by the expiration of the
soldiers' term of enlistment, and by the desertion of the militia.
These successes encouraged the British to pursue the remaining American
force, with the prospect of annihilating it. General Washington, who had
taken post at Newark, on the south side of the Passaic, finding himself
unable to make any real opposition, withdrew from that place, as the
enemy crossed the Passaic, and retreated to Brunswick, on the Raritan;
and Lord Cornwallis, on the same day, entered Newark. The retreat was
still continued from Brunswick to Princeton; from Princeton to Trenton;
and from Trenton to the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware. The pursuit
was urged with so much rapidity, that the rear of one army was often
within shot of the van of the other.
The winter being now set in, the British army went into quarters,
between the Delaware and the Hackensack. Trenton, the most important
post and barrier, was occupied by a brigade of Hessians, under Colonel
Rawle. General Howe now issued a proclamation, in the name of his
brother and himself, in which pardon was offered to all persons who,
within the space of sixty days, should take the oath of allegiance,
and submit to the authority of the British government. The effects of
this proclamation were soon apparent. People from several quarters
availed themselves of it, and threw down their arms. No city or town,
indeed, in its corporate capacity, submitted to the British
government, but most of the families of fortune and influence
discovered an inclination to return to their allegiance. Many of the
yeomanry claimed the benefit of the commissioner's proclamation; and
the great body of them were too much taken up with the security of
their families and their property to make any exertion in the public
cause.[43] Another source of mortification to the Americans, was the
capture of General Lee, who had imprudently ventured to lodge at a
house three miles distant from his corps.[44]
"This was the most gloomy period of the revolutionary war. It was the
crisis of the struggle of the United States for independence. The
American army, reduced in numbers, depressed by defeat, and exhausted
by fatigue, naked, barefoot, and destitute of tents, and even of
utensils with which to dress their scanty provisions, was fleeing
before a triumphant enemy, well-appointed and abundantly supplied. A
general spirit of despondency through New Jersey was the consequence
of this disastrous state of public affairs. But, in this worst of
times, congress stood unmoved; their measures exhibited no symptoms of
confusion or dismay; the public danger only roused them to more
vigorous exertions, that they might give a firmer tone to the public
mind, and animate the citizens of the United America to a manly
defence of their independence. Beneath this cloud of adversity, too,
General Washington shone with a brighter lustre than in the day of his
highest prosperity. Not dismayed by all the difficulties which
encompassed him, he accommodated his measures to his situation, and
still made the good of his country the object of his unwearied
pursuit. He ever wore the countenance of composure and confidence, and
inspired, by his own example, his little band with firmness to
struggle with adverse fortune."[45]
FOOTNOTES:
[39] Botta.
[40] Hale's History of the United States.
[41] Botta.
[42] Holmes' Annals.
[43] Nor was it only in New Jersey, and in the midst of the victorious
royal troops, that these abrupt changes of party were observed; the
inhabitants of Pennsylvania flocked, in like manner, to humble
themselves at the feet of the English commissioners, and to promise them
fealty and obedience. Among others, were Mr. Gallaway and Mr. Allen,
both of whom had been members of the continental congress. Their example
became pernicious, and the most prejudicial effects were to be
apprehended from it. Every day ushered in some new calamity; the cause
of America seemed hastening to irrecoverable ruin. The most ardent no
longer dissembled that the term of the war was at hand, and that the
hour was come in which the colonies were about to resume the yoke.
[44] General Lee had been a British officer, and had engaged in the
American service before the acceptance of the resignation of his
commission. Sir William Howe, for this reason, pretended to view him
as a traitor, and at first refused to admit him on his parole, or to
consider him as a subject of exchange. Congress directed Washington to
propose to General Howe to give six Hessian officers in exchange for
him; but Howe still persisting in his refusal, Congress ordered that
Lieutenant-colonel Campbell and five Hessian officers should be
imprisoned, and treated as General Lee. This order was executed even
with more rigor than it prescribed. The lieutenant-colonel, being then
at Boston, was thrown into a dungeon destined for malefactors.
Washington blamed this excess; he knew that Lee was detained, but not
ill-treated. Lieutenant-colonel Campbell and the Hessians were not
liberated until General Howe had consented to consider Lee as a
prisoner of war.
[45] Hinton.
VIII. RETURNING PROSPERITY.
BATTLES OF TRENTON AND PRINCETON.
RELIANCE of the patriots for success upon God--Public Fast
recommended by Congress--Offensive Operations decided
upon--Battle of Trenton--Washington victorious--Battle of
Princeton--British repulsed--American Army at
Morristown--British at Brunswick--Prospects brightening.
Irrespective of the special blessing of Heaven, the colonies of America
entered upon the revolutionary war with fearful chances against them.
That they well knew, and hence that blessing was more universally sought
than by any other people, in similar circumstances, since the founding
of empires. The cause was remembered by those who offered the incense of
prayer morning and evening on the family altar. Scarcely a Sabbath
occurred, on which the embassadors of God did not make public mention,
in their addresses to a Throne of grace, of the American cause; and
fervent supplications for Divine aid in supporting that cause, and,
carrying it to a prosperous issue, were to be heard in every church. Nor
were colonial assemblies--nor, after its organization, the continental
congress--backward in recognising the necessity of propitiating the
Divine favor. Not a single instance, it is believed, is on record, and
probably never occurred, in which a legislator in a provincial assembly
attached to the patriotic cause, or a member of congress, opposed the
adoption of any resolution which had for its object the humiliation of
the people in the season of national adversity, or the rendering of due
thanks to God in the day of prosperity. There were men concerned in
conducting the military operations of the Revolution, and in guiding the
counsels of the nation, who were far from being personally religious;
but such was the pervading influence of piety in the land, that they
would have manifested no open opposition, had they felt it; nor is it to
be credited, in the absence of positive evidence, that such feelings
ever existed.
The reverses sustained by the Americans, detailed in the preceding
pages, were most sensibly felt in every portion of the land.
Notwithstanding the knowledge of the superiority of the British, in
regard to numerical force, but much more in respect to munitions of
war, and the disciplined character of their soldiery, the Americans
had cherished the expectation of success. Their confidence at the
commencement of the struggle had been raised, and strengthened by the
issue of the affairs at Lexington, and Bunker's hill, and the
evacuation of Boston. Success thus early was positively essential to
success in the sequel. Had they early met with reverses, such as were
experienced from the discomfiture at Brooklyn to the battle of
Trenton, it is doubtful whether that resolution would not have failed,
and with the failure of that, the contest have been relinquished.
Those reverses, though painful and mortifying, were perhaps even
salutary. A firmer reliance upon Providence was felt to be needful,
and a holier tide of supplication ascended to the Arbiter of the fate
of nations.
The connexion between an acknowledgment of God in his providence, and
his blessing on the common cause, was recognised by no body with more
readiness than by the continental congress. Although in May, 1776, that
body had recommended a public fast, in view of the gloomy reverses which
had attended the American arms, on the 11th of December, in a
resolution, which for the tone of its piety cannot be too much admired,
and which might serve as a model to future ages, they recommended the
observance of a day of fasting and humiliation: "Whereas the war in
which the United States are engaged with Great Britain, has not only
been prolonged, but is likely to be carried to the greatest extremity;
and whereas it becomes all public bodies, as well as private persons, to
reverence the providence of God, and look up to him as the Supreme
Disposer of all events, and the Arbiter of the fate of nations;
therefore _Resolved_, that it be recommended to all the United States,
as soon as possible, to appoint a day of solemn fasting and
humiliation; to implore of Almighty God the forgiveness of the many sins
prevailing among all ranks, and to beg the countenance and assistance of
his providence in the prosecution of the present just and necessary war.
The congress do also, in the most solemn manner, recommend to all the
members of the United States, and particularly the officers, civil and
military, under them, the exercise of repentance and reformation; and,
further, require of them the strict observation of the articles of war,
and particularly that part of the said articles which forbids profane
swearing and all immorality, of which all such officers are desired to
take notice."[46]
We left Washington on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware--his army
greatly reduced by the return of numbers to their homes, and depressed
by a long and disheartening retreat before an exulting foe. Nor would
the Americans have now been permitted to pause in safety, had the
British commander succeeded in procuring the means necessary to make
the passage of the river. Finding his efforts for this purpose,
however, fruitless, he began his preparations for retiring into
winter-quarters. The main body of the army was therefore cantoned
between the Delaware and the Hackensack: about four thousand men
occupied positions between Trenton and Mount Holly, and strong
detachments lay at Princeton, Brunswick, and Elizabethtown. The object
of this dispersion over so wide an extent of country, was to
intimidate the people, and thus prevent the possibility of recruiting
for the continental service; while in the spring these forces could be
immediately concentrated, and it was then proposed to put an easy
conclusion to all rebellious contumacy.
The desperate condition of his country's fortunes now pressed with
saddening weight upon the mind of Washington, and he resolved, if
possible, to retrieve misfortune by some daring enterprise. To such an
enterprise he was the more inclined, since, with the exception of about
fifteen hundred effectives, his whole force would be entitled in a few
days to its discharge. Having formed his plan--an attack upon the
British posts on the Delaware--he proceeded to put it in execution.
[Illustration: Battle of Trenton.]
Early in the morning of the 26th of December, 1776, the main body of
the American army, twenty-four hundred strong, and headed by
Washington in person, crossed the river at M'Konkey's ferry, about
nine miles above Trenton. The night was tempestuous with rain and
sleet, and the river encumbered with quantities of floating ice, so
that the passage, although begun soon after midnight, was not fully
effected until three o'clock, and one hour more elapsed before the
march could be commenced. The Americans moved in two divisions along
the roads leading to the town, and their operations were so well
combined, and executed with such precision, that the two attacks on
the British outposts were made within three minutes of each other.
The pickets attempted resistance, but were almost immediately driven
in upon the main body, which was forming hurriedly in line. Colonel
Rawle, their commander, soon after fell, mortally wounded; the
confusion of the soldiery became irremediable; and, after a loss of
about twenty killed, one thousand men laid down their arms, and
surrendered their munitions and artillery. On the American side, the
loss in battle amounted to only two killed and four wounded; among the
latter, James Monroe, afterwards president of the United States.
The other parts of this brilliant enterprise were not, however, executed
with the same success. General Irvine had been instructed to cross at
Trenton ferry, and, by securing a bridge below the town, to cut off the
enemy's march along the Bordentown road. Notwithstanding all his
exertions, it was found that the ice had rendered the passage
impracticable; and five hundred fugitives from the disastrous field of
Trenton were thus enabled to escape by a speedy and well-timed retreat.
General Cadwallader was to have crossed at Drink's ferry, and carried
the post at Mount Holly; but the same impediment prevented this movement
also, and he was compelled to return with a part of his infantry which
had effected the passage. Deprived of this important and expected
cöoperation, Washington had, nevertheless, achieved a most critical and
important triumph; he returned to his former position, charged with the
spoils and trophies of his foes; and from that moment, though reverses
frequently dimmed the brilliancy of the prospect, hope never again
deserted the cause of American independence.