Part 40 (1/2)
The British commander had just been heavily reinforced and his overwhelming army should have made short work of Was.h.i.+ngton's forces, but again Howe failed to win a decisive victory. On October 28 he ordered a general engagement and the first a.s.sault drove in the American outposts. A mile to the west of the main position was Chatterton's Hill which was held by fourteen hundred men. Against this hill Howe sent eight regiments. Five which advanced for a frontal attack were checked and the defenders only retired when outflanked by the other three. A general engagement did not develop and on October 31 Was.h.i.+ngton retired to a line of heights somewhat back of his former position.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Northern New Jersey, New York and Its Environs during the Revolution (Based on map in G.O. Trevelyan, _The American Revolution_, Part II, Vol. I, at end).]
The withdrawal from Quebec.--While Was.h.i.+ngton's army rested at White Plains, heartening news came from the north; and especially good news it was, for during the summer the reports from the Canadian border had been filled with stories of defeat and distress. Congress had made great efforts to reinforce the army before Quebec, but on May 1 when General Thomas arrived to take command, he had found less than two thousand men a.s.sembled and half of them were in the hospitals. Within a week the first British reinforcements arrived and Carleton took the offensive.
Thomas was forced to fall back to Sorel and the Americans were driven from their camp near Montreal.
The army falls back to Crown Point.--On June 5 General John Sullivan arrived at Sorel with three thousand troops. As Thomas had died of the smallpox Sullivan took command. He determined to attack Three Rivers but the surprise failed and his troops were routed. On June 14 an English fleet carrying Carleton's army came up the river. Sullivan immediately broke up his camp and retired to Crown Point, where for the time being he was out of reach of the enemy, for Carleton's vessels were of too deep draft to navigate the Sorel River. But disease proved to be more dangerous than the British, for smallpox and dysentery carried off the men by hundreds.
Ticonderoga becomes the base.--General Philip Schuyler was in command of the northern department with headquarters at Albany and General Horatio Gates was now in charge at Crown Point. In July Gates withdrew most of the depleted force to Ticonderoga. Large numbers of troops were sent north so that by August the garrison numbered thirty-five hundred.
Arnold equipped a fleet of small vessels which he hoped would delay if it would not check the British advance.
Valcour Island.--During the summer Carleton's s.h.i.+pyard at St. Johns was busy building the fleet which would give him control of Lake Champlain.
On October 4 Carleton advanced with an army of twelve thousand men.
Arnold started with his fleet manned by only five hundred men to hara.s.s the advance. He ran into the narrow channel between Valcour Island and the western sh.o.r.e and there on October 11 encountered the light advance craft of the British fleet. For five hours he held his own. During the night he withdrew his shattered boats to an island twelve miles to the south where he attempted to repair the damage. On October 13 when the fog lifted, it disclosed the British fleet. Arnold immediately sent off his best vessels and with his crippled s.h.i.+ps stayed to fight. One vessel struck its colors but Arnold ran his flag s.h.i.+p and four gondolas into a creek and burned them. He then hastened to Ticonderoga where he displayed tremendous energy in strengthening the fortifications. The spirited fight on the lake, the strength of the American position, and the lateness of the season convinced Carleton that it was useless to continue the operations. On November 3 he evacuated Crown Point and began the withdrawal to Canada. Was.h.i.+ngton was thus relieved from the danger of an enemy from the north.
Tactical movements.--Before he was aware of Carleton's withdrawal, Howe had determined to force Was.h.i.+ngton's army into the open. He sent a force of Hessians to occupy the northern end of Manhattan Island and on November 5 moved his main army to Dobb's Ferry on the Hudson, from which vantage point he could strike at Fort Was.h.i.+ngton, advance toward Albany, or threaten Philadelphia. Was.h.i.+ngton's position was endangered and the situation was made doubly precarious by the fact that his army was being depleted by desertions and by the termination of enlistments. To counteract the British movement he sent one corps to Hackensac in New Jersey, and Heath's division was stationed at Peekskill to protect the Hudson. Charles Lee was left at White Plains with about seven thousand men subject to future orders.
Forts Was.h.i.+ngton and Lee.--The British moved next against Forts Was.h.i.+ngton and Lee, which, garrisoned by about five thousand men, were under the supervision of General Greene. They ought to have been abandoned, but Was.h.i.+ngton unfortunately left the decision to his subordinate who believed that they could be held. On November 16 overwhelming forces advanced against Fort Was.h.i.+ngton which was obliged to surrender. Cornwallis secretly sent six thousand troops across the Hudson and on November 20 advanced against Fort Lee. He all but surprised it and Greene, with the greatest difficulty, succeeded only in saving the garrison.
THE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN
Retreat to the Raritan.--The fall of the forts had added greatly to the difficulty of the situation, for Was.h.i.+ngton's army was in danger of being enveloped. To avert disaster he determined to retreat into New Jersey. He accordingly crossed the Pa.s.saic and moved to Newark. The forces under Lee were ordered to join the retreating army, but that vain and conceited officer, who had visions of becoming commander-in-chief as soon as Was.h.i.+ngton was eliminated, refused to obey orders. On November 28 Was.h.i.+ngton marched out of Newark and as his rear guard left the town the advanced guard of the British entered it. The American army pushed on to New Brunswick where it found a temporary haven behind the Raritan.
On December 1 Cornwallis's troops reached the river, but there he was halted by an order from Howe not to advance until he arrived with reinforcements.
Expedition against Rhode Island.--A week later Howe came up with a single brigade. Instead of concentrating his troops to crush the remnant of Was.h.i.+ngton's army, the British commander decided to send two divisions to conquer Rhode Island. They easily occupied the island but it was a fruitless venture for ”several thousand Royal troops were thenceforward locked up in a sea-girt strip of land no larger than the estate of many an English Lord-Lieutenant.”
Retreat across the Delaware.--Was.h.i.+ngton's army was constantly reduced by desertion and sickness, and the New Jersey people failed to rally to his a.s.sistance. It has been estimated that not a hundred men enlisted during the retreat across the state. The people of New Jersey paid dearly for their indifference, for during the winter they were constantly subjected to indignities from the Hessians who were billeted upon them. Among the atrocious acts was the pillaging of Princeton College. Taking advantage of British inactivity, Was.h.i.+ngton prepared to retire beyond the Delaware, from New Brunswick having ordered the collection of boats for many miles along the river front. Covering his retreat with fourteen hundred of his best troops under Stirling, the army and stores were landed on the Pennsylvania sh.o.r.e. When the British troops arrived on the eastern bank, they were forced to halt, for not a boat was available and the short-sighted Howe had failed to provide his army with pontoons.
To the British commander the campaign was over and he prepared to go into winter quarters, fancying that the rebellion was practically crushed and that the spring campaign would be a mere parade. The Whig use appeared to be lost and gloomy forebodings and grumblings of discontent took the place of declamation and heroics. On December 10 Congress resolved to defend Philadelphia but two days later it adjourned and hied away to Baltimore. Was.h.i.+ngton's lack of authority had frequently hampered his military operations, but this difficulty was now removed, for before adjournment Congress resolved, that until otherwise ordered, Was.h.i.+ngton was to have full power to direct operations.
Was.h.i.+ngton's army reinforced.--The dispirited army which crossed the Delaware was soon strongly reinforced. After many days of inaction, General Lee had left his camp at White Plains with the intention, as he grandiloquently put it, of reconquering New Jersey. After the retreat of Carleton, Schuyler had sent seven battalions under Sullivan to a.s.sist Was.h.i.+ngton, but Lee succeeded in getting control of four of them. On December 13 he was captured at a tavern at Baskingridge. As soon as Sullivan heard of it, he started the troops for the Delaware and on the twentieth of December joined Was.h.i.+ngton. Four other battalions from Schuyler's army arrived shortly afterward and General Mifflin brought in a goodly body of Pennsylvania militia. Before Christmas the army numbered eight thousand.
Position of the Hessians.--To the east of the Delaware was a Hessian division under Colonel Von Donop, Colonel Rail being stationed at Trenton with three regiments. Rail had taken to measures to strengthen a naturally weak position; highways converged to the north of the village and artillery stationed at the junction could sweep the streets.
Scouting parties and spies informed Was.h.i.+ngton that Rail's troops were scattered through the town and that the place was practically without defences.
Trenton.--Was.h.i.+ngton determined to strike. With the greatest secrecy he perfected his plans. One body of troops under Cadwalader was to attack Von Donop's position at Bordentown and Ewing with a thousand men was to strike at troops stationed on a.s.sumpink Creek, while Was.h.i.+ngton with Greene and Sullivan in command of twenty-four hundred men and eighteen cannon were to advance against Trenton from the north. During a furious tempest on Christmas night Was.h.i.+ngton succeeded in crossing the Delaware, but Ewing failed to get over and Cadwalader crossed too late to cooperate. At four in the morning Was.h.i.+ngton's troops began the weary march toward Trenton. While the valiant army was toiling over the frozen roads, the Hessians were sleeping off the effects of their Christmas wa.s.sail. At 8:15 the American forces drove in the Hessian outposts.
Aroused from his bed Rail tried to make a stand, but the streets were raked with round shot and the sharpshooters fired relentlessly into the huddled Hessians, several hundred of whom fled across the a.s.sumpink Creek bridge and escaped to Bordentown. Rail tried to rally his men but fell mortally wounded. When Sullivan cut off the retreat to the south and Greene ordered up his reserves, resistance ended. Nine hundred prisoners, a thousand muskets, six field pieces, and a large quant.i.ty of stores fell into the hands of the successful commander. But not in terms of men and guns should the battle of Trenton be judged. Its importance lies in the fact that Was.h.i.+ngton had won a clean cut victory when the Whig cause was tottering and by that victory had raised the drooping spirits of a despairing nation.
Movements of the armies.--When the news of Trenton reached New York, it roused the British from their fancied security. Lord Cornwallis at the head of eight thousand men proceeded by forced marches toward the west.
Was.h.i.+ngton had determined to hold a position east of the Delaware, and on December 30 he again crossed the river and by January 2, 1777, had a.s.sembled five thousand men and forty pieces of artillery just below Trenton. As Cornwallis approached the American position, he realized the costliness of a frontal attack, and decided that as soon as his forces a.s.sembled he would attempt a flanking movement from Allentown.
Princeton, January 3, 1777.--Was.h.i.+ngton saw the danger and decided on a daring plan. On the night of January 2 all was activity in the American camp. Sentinels challenged, infantry moved about in the light of the camp fires, and the sound of pick and shovel was plainly audible to the British. But in the darkness to the rear another kind of activity was in progress. Cannon, stores, and baggage were being silently moved to Bordentown and Burlington, and at one in the morning the bulk of the army began a stealthy march which at daybreak brought them out within a mile and a half of Princeton. Three of Cornwallis's regiments had remained there during the night and were now under way. Suddenly the first of these troops under Colonel Mawhood found themselves confronted by the American advance guard. The British charged bravely, scoring an initial success, but Was.h.i.+ngton's presence in front of his lines steadied the troops and they soon forced a retreat. Sullivan then led the advance against the two remaining regiments, which were driven through and beyond Princeton, leaving three hundred prisoners in Was.h.i.+ngton's hands. The roar of the guns brought the unwelcome tidings to Cornwallis that the American army had escaped, had cut across his rear, and had defeated three of his crack regiments.
Morristown.--Five miles beyond Princeton Was.h.i.+ngton turned to the north and soon established his army in a powerful position at Morristown where they remained in security the rest of the winter. Howe made no attempt to dislodge his opponent, but concentrated ten thousand troops in camps at New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. The Jersey people had been cured of their Toryism; supplies poured into the American camp, while the British experienced the greatest difficulty in securing fuel and food, and by March 1 were reduced to a ration of salt provisions and ”ammunition bread.” When Was.h.i.+ngton reached Morristown he had about four thousand men and during the winter his army did not increase, but he made the most of the opportunity to drill his men and perfect his organization.
Throughout the country men were drilling for the spring campaign, powder mills were being built, and lead mines were being opened. The greatest shortage was in muskets, but fortunately these were obtained from France.
Middlebrook.--In May, 1777, everything was in readiness and Was.h.i.+ngton led his army to a powerful position at Middlebrook, only a few miles from the British camp at New Brunswick. On June 13 Howe transferred large forces to the southern bank of the Raritan, but he failed to draw Was.h.i.+ngton from his point of vantage and on the nineteenth he began the withdrawal of his army to Staten Island, having had the satisfaction only of a rear guard action with Stirling's division.
THE STRUGGLE WITH BURGOYNE
British plans for 1777.--Howe's plan for the campaign of 1777 called for fifteen thousand more troops. With this addition he believed that he could crush Was.h.i.+ngton and conquer Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The subjugation of the southern colonies would then be attempted, followed by operations in New England. But Lord Germaine thought otherwise. Ignoring the general in the field, he planned to send a force under St. Leger down the Mohawk Valley, a second army under Burgoyne to penetrate New York by the Lake Champlain route, while Howe was to proceed up the Hudson Valley. The three armies were to meet at Albany.