The Story of American History Part 17

=204. Takes Command in New York; his Masterly Retreat.=--Howe and Washington, 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.

Washington 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 Washington.

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, Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington had to struggle.=--But now came the trouble that distressed Washington 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 furnishing soldiers. The colonial money used to pay them rapidly lost its value; so that Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington 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.=--Washington 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 Washington did not dare to fight, and that the war was about over.

In all this gloom there was only one ray of light: Washington 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 Washington 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, Washington, 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 Washington's side, "for that is General Washington."

"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.

Washington 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 Washington'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 Washington, 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 Washington'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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WASHINGTON BEFORE TRENTON.]

=207. How Washington surprised the British at Princeton.=--During the night Washington left a front line of camp-fires burning, and a few soldiers noisily digging trenches and throwing up breastworks, while his entire army made a circuitous march around Cornwallis, got in his rear, attacked Princeton early, captured three regiments and a lot of supplies, and moved on to Morristown, a strong place where the British dared not attack him.

In this battle the commanding figure of Washington riding to and fro on his white horse made a notable object for the enemy's marksmen.

These two battles brought Washington great applause all over this country and through Europe. Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, said: "This young American general opens a fresh chapter in the art of war; England hasn't a man to match him."

=208. How Washington helped to defeat Burgoyne.=--During the next year, 1777, Washington was busy watching Lord Howe and keeping him confined closely in New York. Although he lacked the army with which to fight any great battle, yet he did the greatest service. The British planned this year, as we have just read in the preceding chapter, a second effort to occupy the Hudson and divide the colonies.

But, as we have seen, the plan was doomed to failure. Burgoyne was wrecked by Schuyler and Stark, and the Mohawk force was defeated by Arnold and Morgan. Then all depended on Howe's army which was to come up the Hudson. But Howe could not come! Washington was skillfully blocking his plans, so that the British general could spare no soldiers. And so resulted the great surrender at Saratoga--the most cheering victory during this period of the war.

Howe's army then went by sea to Philadelphia and wintered there.

=209. Sufferings at Valley Forge.=--Washington wintered at Valley Forge, not far away. The winter was very severe. The patriot army was ill-fed, ill-clothed, and unpaid. Hundreds of soldiers were barefoot, their b.l.o.o.d.y steps tracking the snow. Hungry, shivering, and bleeding, they keenly felt how much it cost to be a "ragged continental."

The money issued was almost worthless, fifty dollars of paper for one of specie. It took six months' pay to buy a pair of boots; for England counterfeited the continental money, brought over huge parcels of it, and put it into circulation. Congress seemed neglectful. Discouragement prevailed.

Washington seemed to have the care of the whole patriot cause on his shoulders alone. He had everything to do,--appealing perpetually to Congress for action; begging the Governors for aid; getting food, arms, ammunition, and clothing; recruiting and drilling the army; planning campaigns; and so working unceasingly in every direction.

=210. Help from France; the Battle of Monmouth.=--In the spring of 1778 help came. The French sent ships, soldiers, and officers, and again the sun began to shine. Their help was of vital importance. Perhaps we could never have got on without it.

Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Lord Howe, fearing the approach of a French fleet, now made up his mind to leave Philadelphia and march across New Jersey to New York. Washington sent forward a division of his army under General Charles Lee to pursue the British and give them battle. The patriots, ready and eager to fight, came up with the enemy at Monmouth. Unfortunately, the mischief-making Lee, now known to have been little better than a traitor, ordered a retreat.

As Washington advanced with the main army, he was filled with surprise and anger to learn from stragglers of Lee's treacherous action. He set spurs to his horse and galloped to the front.

According to tradition, this was one of the very few times when Washington was thought to have lost his self-control. With a fierce oath he demanded of Lee what he meant by retreating. Washington's look, according to Lafayette, was terrible.

"What is the meaning of all this, sir?" he repeated.

There could be no good answer. Lee quailed before his angry commander.

Having sent the apparently treacherous officer to the rear, Washington showed at once his superb generalship. Like Sheridan at Cedar Creek, about which we shall hear later, he inspired his men with fresh courage and led them against the enemy. The continental army now showed the results of the long winter's drill at Valley Forge. The lines were re-formed, the main army was brought up, and the British were soon repulsed.

Clinton retreated during the same night. He reached New York and the protection of the fleet before the patriot army could overtake him.

Such was the battle of Monmouth, fought on a very hot and sultry Sunday in June, 1778. It was the last battle in the north, and practically closed the campaign for the control of the Middle States.

=211. The Story of Mollie Pitcher.=--The account of this battle would not be complete without the oft-told story of Mollie Pitcher. During the day a soldier having charge of a cannon was shot down at his post. His newly wedded wife, a young Irish woman, was at the time bringing water for the thirsty men from a neighboring spring. She saw her husband fall at the cannon he was serving, and heard his commander order the piece to be removed from the field. Instantly dropping her pail, Mollie seized the rammer and, stationing herself by the gun, performed her husband's duty with skill and courage all through the battle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MOLLIE PITCHER TAKES HER HUSBAND'S PLACE AT MONMOUTH.]

The soldiers gave her the nickname of Major Mollie, and being presented to General Washington the day after the battle, she received a sergeant's commission, and Congress gave her half-pay for life! Some of the French officers, it is said, were so delighted with her courage that they presented her with a hat full of gold pieces and christened her "La Capitaine"!

=212. Washington plans the Yorktown Campaign.=--In the spring of 1781, Washington was still hemming in Clinton at New York. In the south, where there had been severe fighting for two years, General Greene had driven Cornwallis from the Carolinas up to Virginia, and our generous friend, Lafayette, had helped push the British general to the point of land at Yorktown. Washington, learning this, arranged that the French fleet should sail there and prevent the escape of the enemy by sea.

Then Washington planned what has been regarded as the proudest achievement of the war. He decided to hurry his own army to Yorktown, and with it and the southern forces and the French fleet finish the seven years' struggle.

Yes; but if Clinton should hear of it, he would sail from New York and checkmate the plan. How could Washington do all this and keep Clinton in the dark? Everything turned on that. He kept up a lively show of activity around New York, and had decoy letters written to his distant generals to come and help him capture Clinton's army. Very strange, but those letters reached the British general!