Part 11 (1/2)

The triumph may be summed up in the expression that it marked the ”turning of the tide.” Reverses were yet waiting for the Americans, but the war for independence was steadily to advance to its triumphant conclusion.

THE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY.

The situation of Was.h.i.+ngton at Trenton, however, was critical.

Cornwallis with his powerful force was at Princeton, ten miles distant, and was sure to advance against him as soon as he learned of the reverse at Trenton. Was.h.i.+ngton, therefore, recrossed the Delaware on the same day of the victory, with his prisoners and captured war material. One result was that the British, as soon as they learned what had taken place, abandoned South Jersey.

Was.h.i.+ngton remained three days in Pennsylvania, when he again crossed the Delaware and re-entered Trenton. More than 3,000 reinforcements joined him, and 1,400 New England soldiers, whose terms of enlistment were expiring, were so inspired by the victory that they volunteered for six weeks longer. Robert Morris, to whom we have referred as the financier of the Revolution, raised $50,000 in specie and sent it to Was.h.i.+ngton to be used in paying the troops, who very sorely needed it.

As soon as Cornwallis was told by his scouts that Was.h.i.+ngton had returned to Trenton, he advanced against him with a force of 7,000 men, determined to wipe out the disgrace of a few days before. This was on the 2d of January, 1777. Greene held the British commander in check until the close of the day, when he was able to drive the Americans to the eastern sh.o.r.e of the a.s.sunpink Creek, which runs through the middle of the town and was spanned by a wooden bridge. There was brisk fighting at this bridge, but the cannon of Was.h.i.+ngton were so effective that the British troops gave up the attempt to force a pa.s.sage until the morning of the following day.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S CRITICAL SITUATION.

The two armies encamped in sight of each other on opposite banks of the a.s.sunpink, their camp-fires and sentinels in plain sight. The situation of the American army could not have been more critical. Behind it was the Delaware filled with floating ice and in front the superior army of Cornwallis, confident of capturing Was.h.i.+ngton and his forces on the morrow.

But when the raw wintry morning dawned, Cornwallis was astounded to hear the booming of cannon in the direction of Princeton, ten miles behind him. Was.h.i.+ngton had withdrawn his entire force, and, reaching the college town by a roundabout course, was driving the British troops before him. The chagrined and angered Cornwallis hurried to Princeton in order to avert the threatened disaster.

BATTLE OF PRINCETON.

But Was.h.i.+ngton had already won a victory, scattering the British forces right and left. Although he lost a number of brave officers and men, he killed sixty of the enemy and captured 250 prisoners. When Cornwallis arrived the Americans were gone, and the British troops hurried to Brunswick (now New Brunswick) to protect the stores there. Was.h.i.+ngton withdrew to Morristown, where he went into winter quarters and remained until May, much of the time being devoted to making forays upon the enemy, who now and then retaliated in kind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”GIVE THEM WATTS, BOYS!”

The spirit shown by our st.u.r.dy patriots is well ill.u.s.trated by the story of the minister, who, when in one battle there was a lack of wadding, brought out an armful of hymn books and exclaimed: ”Give them Watts, boys!”]

Was.h.i.+ngton left Morristown on the 28th of May, aware that Howe intended to make a campaign against Philadelphia. There was considerable manoeuvring by the two armies, Howe trying to flank Was.h.i.+ngton, who was too alert to be entrapped, and no material advantage was gained by either side.

About this time a number of foreign officers joined the American army.

The most distinguished was the Marquis de Lafayette, who served without pay and won the grat.i.tude of the whole country because of his devotion to the cause of American independence and his intimate friends.h.i.+p with Was.h.i.+ngton.

Meanwhile, being driven out of New Jersey, the British pushed their campaign against Philadelphia by way of the Chesapeake. In August, 1777, Sir William Howe sailed from New York with 16,000 troops, and, on the 24th, reached the head of Elk River in Maryland. At Brandywine, on the 11th of September, the American army was defeated with severe loss, Lafayette being among the wounded. Was.h.i.+ngton entered Philadelphia the next day, and, crossing the Schuylkill, posted his troops on the eastern bank of the river, with detachments at the ferries where it was thought the enemy were likely to attempt to cross. General Wayne concealed himself and 1,500 men in the woods, intending to attack the British in the rear, but a Tory betrayed his presence to the enemy, who in a furious a.s.sault slew 300 of his men. This disaster is known in history as the Paoli Ma.s.sacre.

BRITISH OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA.

Howe, having gained control of the Schuylkill, crossed with his army, and, advancing to Germantown, took possession of Philadelphia on the 27th of September. The main body remained in Germantown, while the American army, now reinforced to 11,000, were on the eastern side of the Schuylkill, eighteen miles distant. Howe was engaged in reducing the forts on the Delaware to open a pa.s.sage for his fleet, when Was.h.i.+ngton advanced against the force at Germantown, hoping to surprise it. He would have succeeded, but for several obstacles wholly unexpected. The stone building known as the ”Chew House” offered a stubborn resistance and defied the cannon fired against it. The delay caused by the attempt to reduce it gave the enemy time to rally. Besides, the dense fog disorganized the attack, and more than once bodies of Americans fired into one another. On the verge of victory, a retreat was ordered and the Americans fell back, after having suffered a loss of 1,200 men. Congress on the approach of the enemy fled to the little town of York, Pennsylvania.

WAs.h.i.+NGTON AT VALLEY FORGE.

While the British were holding high revel in Philadelphia, the Continentals s.h.i.+vered and starved at Valley Forge, twenty miles away.

Thousands of the men were without shoes and stockings. In each log hut were twelve privates, who had scarcely any bedding, and who kept from freezing at night by the mutual warmth of their bodies. The farmers of the neighborhood were so unpatriotic that Was.h.i.+ngton was often compelled to take straw and grain from them by force, giving in return an order upon the government for the property thus used. It is said that Isaac Potts, a Quaker at whose house Was.h.i.+ngton made his headquarters, was pa.s.sing through the woods one day, when he heard the voice of some one in prayer. Peering among the trees he saw Was.h.i.+ngton on his knees, beseeching the help of heaven in the struggle for liberty. When Potts returned to his home and related the incident to his wife, he added that he could no longer doubt the success of the Americans, since he had heard Was.h.i.+ngton praying for it.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WAs.h.i.+NGTON AT VALLEY FORGE.]

It has been shown that one of the most important campaigns planned by the British was that of invading New York from Canada. If successful, New England would be cut off from the other States and forced to submit.

Formidable preparations were made for this movement. An army of more than 7,000 British and Hessian troops, in addition to a corps of artillery, was placed under the command of General Burgoyne, who was accompanied by several members of Parliament, who had crossed the ocean for the pleasure of witnessing the overthrow of the rebellious Americans. The route was from Canada by way of Lake Champlain to Albany, where the army was to be joined by a strong force to be sent up the Hudson from New York. Clinton failed to carry out his part, because of the delay in sending to him from London a detailed account of the intended plan of campaign.