Part 17 (1/2)

=204. Takes Command in New York; his Masterly Retreat.=--Howe and Was.h.i.+ngton, after the evacuation of Boston, moved their armies to New York, each knowing the other would do so. The British plan was to take and hold the Hudson River and thus to separate the troublesome New England colonies from the others. The possession of New York was therefore of vast importance.

Was.h.i.+ngton arrived first, and as the Brooklyn Heights opposite New York controlled the latter city, he did well to occupy this position. But it would have been very unwise to place all his army there. He stationed about nine thousand men under General Putnam in Brooklyn. The rest he used across the river in the city, and to hold Fort Lee and Fort Was.h.i.+ngton.

Against Putnam's force the British brought an army of twenty thousand, stealing a night march, and with their greater number defeated our troops. This severe reverse, which could not have been prevented by him, Was.h.i.+ngton followed with a military success; for in the night, which fortunately happened to be very foggy, he silently and safely withdrew all our remaining troops across the East River from the overwhelming British force. The boats were managed by companies of Marblehead fishermen, who thus had an opportunity of doing a most signal service.

When Howe the next morning moved his victorious regulars again to the attack, his enemy was gone!

This masterly retreat from the very sight and under the guns of the enemy gave Was.h.i.+ngton a great reputation. He managed and watched it personally, spending two days and two nights in his saddle, without rest or sleep!

=205. Some of the Many Difficulties with which Was.h.i.+ngton had to struggle.=--But now came the trouble that distressed Was.h.i.+ngton all through the war--the lack of soldiers. The British government sent over thousands of disciplined troops, and kept them well equipped.

The colonies were uncertain and irregular in furnis.h.i.+ng soldiers. The colonial money used to pay them rapidly lost its value; so that Was.h.i.+ngton was continually distressed to procure and retain enough troops. Besides, the terms of enlistment were usually short--six months or even less--and thus his little army was constantly dwindling away. To add to his anxieties, the supply of cannon, guns, powder, clothing, food, and all needed equipments, was often painfully meager.

How then could Was.h.i.+ngton with his small and ill-furnished forces--his ”ragged continentals”--oppose successfully the much larger and well-supplied troops of the enemy? To keep risking battles with an army much stronger than his own would invite defeat and ruin.

But there were some things he could do--watch the enemy sharply, hara.s.s and worry him by repeated small engagements, obstruct his plans, and whenever possible attack a small separate body and defeat or capture it.

This is exactly what Was.h.i.+ngton did, and often with consummate skill. He won his best moves because he first carefully fought over all his battles in his own brain, and then fought them out with the guns of his soldiers; for he had a faculty of inspiring his men with his own high purpose. They admired him as a hero, trusted him as a friend, and loved him as a father.

=206. The Brilliant Victory at Trenton.=--Was.h.i.+ngton had successfully withdrawn the troops from Brooklyn, but he knew perfectly well that with his scanty force of half-trained men he could not risk a battle with four times as many of the well-drilled enemy--it would be certain ruin to the patriot cause.

Our army now had to retreat across New Jersey, the British following closely all the way! It was a distressing movement and it produced general gloom. The country was discouraged, Congress was discouraged, the army itself was becoming discouraged. The British said Was.h.i.+ngton did not dare to fight, and that the war was about over.

In all this gloom there was only one ray of light: Was.h.i.+ngton never despaired! Sorely tried, he yet kept up his faith and hope. Sick at heart but ever resolute, he declared to his friends that if all others forsook him, he would retire to the backwoods of Virginia and there make a final stand against Great Britain.

Reaching the Delaware, the great commander crossed into Pennsylvania.

General Howe came up on the east side, and then spread out his army, placing a thousand Hessians at Trenton.

See what Was.h.i.+ngton did. On Christmas night, 1776, he crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians. The river was so full of floating ice that the Marblehead soldiers found it very hard to manage the boats.

After the crossing, the men marched nine miles through snow and hail, sometimes marking the whitened ground with blood from their shoeless feet.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE NIGHT MARCH TO TRENTON.]

As they drew near Trenton, Was.h.i.+ngton, who rode in front, asked a man chopping wood by the roadside:--

”Which way is the Hessian picket?”

”I do not know,” was the surly answer.

”You may tell,” said the officer at Was.h.i.+ngton's side, ”for that is General Was.h.i.+ngton.”

”G.o.d bless and prosper you!” cried the man instantly. ”The picket is in that house, and the sentry stands near that tree.”

The Hessians, who were celebrating Christmas with wild revelry, were surprised, and soon forced to surrender.

Was.h.i.+ngton was in great danger from the superior forces of the enemy close at hand, and was obliged immediately to recross the Delaware with his tired troops and his prisoners. The weather was so severe that two men were frozen to death that Christmas night. Notwithstanding Was.h.i.+ngton's haste, he found time to visit the dying Hessian Commander, Colonel Rahl, and speak kindly to him.

It was a battle of this kind that showed the courage and genius of a great general who, in the midst of the most unfavorable circ.u.mstances, could plan well, fight well, and outwit the enemy! It was such masterful watchfulness and bravery as this that saved the country. Mighty applause now rang all through the land! ”Hurrah for Was.h.i.+ngton, and hurrah for his ragged but plucky little army!”

Well might the people shout, for this was the first real victory of the continental army. Lord Howe was very angry and said it would never do, and he sent Cornwallis to defeat this rebel general. Let us see what Cornwallis did. The British general marched from Princeton with about eight thousand men, and found Was.h.i.+ngton's army of some three thousand with its rear to the river. At about dusk he planted his own army in front, and then felt sure of his prey. ”At last we have run down the old fox,” said the over-confident British general as he went to bed in high spirits, ”and we will bag him easily in the morning.” The situation was indeed a dangerous one for the patriot army.