USA > New Jersey > New Jersey as a colony and as a state; one of the original thirteen > Part 8
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Rall was now carried from the Methodist Church to his own quarters, dying. Generals Washington and Greene called on him during the morning and took his parole, and promised him kind treatment for his men. He died on the even- ing of December 27th, and was buried in the Pres- byterian graveyard.
In this eventful battle the loss of the Americans was two officers and two enlisted men wounded. None was killed. Of the fourteen hundred Anglo-
COLONEL RALL'S HEADQUARTERS AT TRENTON
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Hessian troops, composed of three regiments of Hessian infantry, a small detachment of artillery, fifty Hessian yagers, and twenty dragoons, the loss was five officers killed and five wounded, sixteen enlisted men killed, and seventy-five wounded. Twenty-four Hessian soldiers were known to have been buried in the village.
A council of war was called at noon, and al- though General Greene and Colonel Knox urged a rapid pursuit of the foe General Washington de- cided to recross the river immediately, and thus secure his prisoners and the trophies of victory. The march was then taken up by the river road to McKonkey's Ferry. More than one thousand of Washington's army were reported unfit for duty the next day.
Upon his return to Pennsylvania General Washington made preparations for the care of his prisoners, who were lodged in and about the jail at Newtown. Of the Grenadier Regiment Rall, the Fusilier Regiments Von Knyphausen and Von Lossberg with the allied British troops, General Washington reported that nine hundred and eighteen men had been made prisoners of war. The American army also took six brass three- pounders, forty horses, one thousand stand of arms, and fifteen colors. Upon the closing days of the year the prisoners were sent to Philadel- phia, being paraded through that city for the pur-
Frael putnam
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pose of inspiring the patriots, and showing them that the warlike Hessians could be captured.
While in itself the affair at Trenton brought the highest credit upon American arms, it was unfortunate that a portion of the plans miscar- ried. From the British outposts at Mount Holly during the early part of the month of December annoying bands of raiders had swept over West Jersey as far as Moorestown and Haddonfield. These expeditions had been driven back by Colo- nel Griffin in command of two companies of Vir- ginians aided by the local militia. Colonel Cad- walader was instructed to cooperate with Griffin to the confusion of Donop, who, by reason of distance, was unable to aid Rall in case of sudden attack. It was also urged upon General Putnam at Philadelphia that he " create a diversion " by crossing the Delaware River at Cooper's Ferry (Camden). Although it is said that Washington made the appeal in person to General Putnam the doughty Connecticut warrior refused to take part in the action. Finding it impracticable to act with either Griffin or Putnam, Cadwalader at Bristol was largely left to his own devices, as was Ewing at Trenton Ferry. Owing to a purely nat- ural cause-the presence of ice in the river- neither Cadwalader nor Ewing was able to carry out his plans to assist Washington. On the 27th, however, Cadwalader forced his way to
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Comwallis
Burlington, and, learning that Donop was in full retreat, followed him as far as Crosswicks. Fifteen hundred militia from Pennsylvania under Mifflin crossed to New Jersey to join Cadwalader.
Everywhere the praises of Washington were sung; everywhere men sprang to arms. The New England troops decided to remain, Jerseymen gathered at Morristown, the electricity of battle was in the air. But it was Lord George Germain, the colonial secretary of state of King George III, who voiced the opinion of the people of Great Britain on this disastrous fight when he wrote, " All our hopes were blasted by that unhappy affair at Trenton."
The defeat of Colonel Rall at Trenton may be attributed to two causes. The most essential of these was the ill feeling that existed between the British and Hessian officers, which, according to a letter in the Pennsylvania Evening Post of June 24, 1777, occurred in Princeton before the battle of Trenton. It appears that an officer of the regi- ment of Lossberg engaged some English officers in a conversation respecting military discipline. An English officer, whether heated by liquor or irascible through passion, replied to the German by throwing a punch bowl at his head. The insult was properly resented. But the seeds of discord being thus sown, a crop of evils ensued. The pri-
Charles Cornwallis, b. in London, Dec. 31, 1738 ; served in the Seven Years' War; governor of the Tower of London ; member of Parliament; accepted a command in the British army In America, sur- rendering at Yorktown, Va., Oct. 19, 1781 ; governor- general of India 1786-93 ; d. Oct. 5, 1805.
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vate men, adopting the quarrels of their officers, indulged themselves in frequent encounters.
If we credit the contemporary tale bearers of the ministry the defeat of the Hessians at Tren- ton was ascribed to the drunkenness of Colonel Rall. That Colonel Rall was drunk upon the night previous to the battle of Trenton there is no doubt; but if there be a virtue in such a palliative Rall's military reputation must be submitted to the judgment of the world.
Washington, not only to lend encouragement to the reviving spirits of his countrymen, but like- wise to pursue his advantage, recrossed the river at McKonkey's Ferry in advance of the troops, and entered Trenton. Until January 2, 1777, in that village, his headquarters were in the house of loyalist Major John Barnes, near the Assanpink Creek. Fearing the advance of the British from New Brunswick, he moved to the True American Inn on the south side of the stream. Upon its banks he concentrated his troops, a delay having been caused by floating ice "rendering their pas- sage extremely difficult and fatiguing." The Pennsylvania militia under Generals Mifflin and Cadwalader having crossed the Delaware, Mifflin with eighteen hundred men was posted at Borden- town, while Cadwalader with an equal number of soldiers occupied Crosswicks.
In the meantime General Cornwallis, joining
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General Grant at New Brunswick, left that town with eight thousand troops, whose advance was met by General Fermoy taking position at Five Mile Run on the first day of the year 1777. Upon the second day Cornwallis forced back this detach- ment as well as troops sent to support the slowly retreating Americans. Fighting desperately be- tween Lawrenceville and Trenton, the militia and line were driven to the rising ground south of the Assanpink Creek, which the British did not at- tempt to cross. Had they done so Washington and his army would have been scattered through the southern portion of New Jersey, as the Dela- ware was impassable by reason of ice.
A council of war called that night in the Doug- lass mansion was one of the most eventful in the history of the Revolution. To turn the left flank of the enemy, strike a blow at the small garrison at Princeton, and seize the British stores at New Brunswick was decided upon. By increasing his guards and perfecting his defenses the American commander made a feint of protecting his position at all hazards. Suddenly at midnight of the 3d of January Washington, having brightened his campfires, marched eastward to Allentown and toward Cranbury. Thence moving across the country, early morning found the Americans di- rectly south of Princeton, General Washington having detailed General Mercer to destroy the
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Stony Brook bridge, breaking communication with Trenton.
The British garrison at Princeton was small, consisting of the Seventeenth, Fortieth, and Fifty- fifth Regiments and three companies of light horse. In obedience to commands the Seventeenth and Fifty-fifth, the Seventeenth being under the command of Colonel Charles Mawhood, had left Princeton to reinforce Cornwallis at Trenton. Mercer failing to destroy the bridge, Mawhood had passed over Stony Brook unaware that Mercer lay upon his flank and rear. Discovering his sit- uation, Colonel Mawhood turned his troops to- ward Princeton, and a short but decisive struggle took place for control of the rising land east of the stream. Charged by British bayonets, the militia retreated through an orchard, leaving upon the field their gallant commander, General Mercer, mortally wounded, stabbed with seven- teen thrusts.
Here, however, Mawhood found himself in the face of the American army, where, unable to hold his position, the British retreated toward Prince- ton. Making but a feeble show of resistance in the town, and occupying for a brief time Nassau Hall, the main building of the College of New Jersey, the British regiments, thoroughly disorganized, sought safety in flight across the Millstone toward New Brunswick. The Seventeenth Regiment was
WASHINGTON BETWEEN THE TWO ARMI AT PRINCETON.
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also scattered, and the Stony Brook bridge was de- stroyed as the rear guard of Cornwallis, which had heard the firing at Maidenhead, appeared.
Although the battle of Princeton was a victory for the Americans, yet their loss of officers was large, including men of the highest distinction. Besides General Mercer, Captain William Ship- pen, of Philadelphia; Colonel John Hazlet, of Delaware; Captain Daniel Neil, of New Jersey; Captain John Flemming, of Virginia; Ensign An- thony Morris, of Philadelphia; and Lieutenant Bartholomew Yates, of Virginia, the latter being but eighteen years of age, were among the number of the immortal dead.
The effect of the affair at Trenton and the sur- prise at Princeton was electrical. The eyes of the united colonies had been turned upon the retreat through New Jersey, and had the results been other than they were the British, holding New Jersey-the key to the military situation-would have spread ruin, not only through the State, but through the newly-formed union. New Jersey ly- ing between the North and South, plundered and devastated by guerrilla soldiery; the colonies di- vided; the continental line and militia butchered or hung; and the leaders of the Revolution dying as traitors in a rebellion-such would have been the result had not Washington, at a critical time, saved the confederation and the hopes of an infant nation.
CHAPTER IX
THE FIRST WINTER AT MORRISTOWN
T HE close of the battle of Princeton found both the troops of Cornwallis and Washington utterly exhausted. In a little less than two months Washington had turned an almost certain defeat into victory, had scattered the British commander's dreams of future conquest, and had driven the King's troops from West Jer- sey. Except for the region around Amboy and New Brunswick, all of New Jersey had passed from the hands of the British.
To provide winter quarters for his army, giving at least a semblance of relief to men worn out with the fatigues of a winter campaign, General Washington turned toward Morristown. Upon the day of the battle of Princeton he pursued the flying British regiments as far as Kingston, where he destroyed the bridge, and, turning to the left, halted for the night at Millstone, then known as Somerset Court House. Here his headquarters were at the house of John Van Doren. Upon the afternoon of Sunday, the 5th of January, the army reached Pluckemin, where was buried with military honors Captain Leslie, of the Seven- teenth British Regiment, who, wounded at the bat- tle of Princeton, had been under the care of Dr. Benjamin Rush. The next day just before sunset the American troops reached Morristown, Gen- eral Washington taking for his headquarters
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A HIGHLANDER.
a tavern owned and kept by Colonel Jacob Arnold. This frame building stood upon the northwest side of the public square. From the advantageous situation which Morristown afford- ed General Washington had the British hemmed into the narrow tract of land between New Brunswick and Perth Amboy, in a country from which supplies had been exhausted. After the horrors of the retreat through the Jerseys Gen- eral Washington wrote with satisfaction to Gov- ernor Cooke, of Rhode Island, that affairs in Mor- ristown "are in a very prosperous train "-a situation more relative than real.
Fortunately, however, the enemy was kept in ignorance of the true size of the American army. The terms of militia service expiring, an event of almost weekly occurrence, and the arrival of but few new regiments, kept the roster rolls in a con- stant state of fluctuation. This condition gave General Washington no little fear that a sudden and successful attack might be made upon him should the British commanders learn the true situation of his dependent condition.
Upon the 30th of November, 1776, Lord Howe and General Howe had issued a proclamation promising to the American "rebels" amnesty provided those accepting such favor should return to their allegiance within sixty days. A counter- proclamation was issued upon January 25, 1777,
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which commanded and required every one sign- ing Howe's proclamation to deliver any such pro- tection, certificate, and passport, and further to take the oath of allegiance to the United States or withdraw within the British lines. Although General Washington's proclamation was issued as an act of the highest military necessity the Legislature of New Jersey regarded it as a blow at State supremacy.
During the latter part of February and the month of March the situation of the American troops in Morristown was deplorable. "The cry of want of Provisions comes to me from all Quarters. General Maxwell writes word that his men are starving," is the message that General Washington upon the anniversary of his birth- February 22-sent to Commissary Irvine. Op- posed to General Howe's ten thousand troops, well disciplined and well appointed, gathered on board the transports at Amboy and in the nearby country, were the American militia at and near Morristown-" raw, badly officered, and under no government." By the middle of the month Wash- ington wrote to the president of Congress that the total number of men under arms in New Jer- sey was less than three thousand. These com- prised about one thousand soldiers, the skeletons of five Virginia regiments and parts of continen- tal battalions, the two thousand remainder com-
[Vol. 2]
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posed of New Jersey and Pennsylvania militia. At least one thousand men and attendants were under inoculation for smallpox, inoculation camps having been established in Morristown, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and Providence. Dur- ing these hours of trial Washington himself was ill, although benefited by the ministrations of his wife, who arrived in camp upon the 15th. In spite of the deplorable state of the army gambling was constantly spreading its baneful influence among the troops. So prevalent did the vice be- come that the commander-in-chief prohibited the officers and soldiers from playing at cards, dice, or any games "except those of EXERCISE for diversion."
During May the situation improved. By the end of the month forty-three regiments seven thousand strong had assembled from New Jer- sey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. Of ten brigades five divisions were formed commanded by Generals Greene, Stephen, Sullivan, Lincoln, and Stirling, with the artillery under the command of Knox.
At Middlebrook, upon the 29th of May, General Washington established a new headquarters, where the main body of the army was encamped, General Sullivan occupying the region of the Sourland Hills. The British right lay at New Brunswick, their left at Somerset. Upon the 22d
Henry Knox, b. in Boston, July 25, 1750; book- seller ; joined the Continental army at Cambridge ; commanded the Lake Champlain expedition ; served under Washington in New Jersey and New York ; a founder and chief secretary of the Society of the Cincinnati : secretary of war 1785-96 ; d. in Thomas- ton, Me., Oct. 25, 1806.
GENERAL HENRY KNOX.
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of June the enemy evacuated New Brunswick, their march to Amboy being marked by burned houses and devastated plantations. To be nearer the enemy General Washington moved his head- quarters to Quibbletown, now New Market, on the Amboy road, six miles from Middlebrook. To meet this advance General Howe moved west- ward from Perth Amboy to Westfield, " with the desire," says Baker, " either of bringing on a gen- eral engagement or to possess himself of the heights and passes in the mountains on the American left." The American army reoccupied Middlebrook, while the enemy, on the 27th of June, retired to Perth Amboy.
The winter at Morristown was one of uncertain- ty and delay. Howe had never abandoned his in- tention of attacking Philadelphia and only awaited an opportune movement to strike a blow at the city. But his experience at Trenton had taught him that the Revolutionary movement con- tained a vast reserve power. Finding that his guerrilla warfare in East Jersey did not weaken the enthusiasm of Washington, and that his army was inured to cold, nakedness, and hunger, the British general-in-chief devised the plan of send- ing his army to Philadelphia by sea, and, landing upon the shores of the Delaware or Chesapeake, capturing the city with one effective blow.
Of Howe's movements Washington was in
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ignorance. His belief was that the British would make a second attempt to control the valley of the Hudson, a belief so firmly lodged in Wash- ington's mind that even after the departure of Howe from Sandy Hook, about the 1st of July, Washington advanced in a northerly direction to hold the Hudson against an intruder who was sailing down the Jersey coast toward the Dela- ware.
In this Washington was deceived by several feints made by the British troops, who under their commanders endeavored to attract him from his position in the hills and institute a gen- eral engagement at some point near New Bruns- wick or Elizabethtown. Until the last he refused to accept the challenge, and, finding his enemy un- conquerable at Morristown, and refusing to fight, as a body, upon the lowlands, Howe determined upon the total evacuation of the Jerseys.
The winter at Morristown was marked by no military engagements of more than local impor- tance, although there was a constant border war- fare. Early in January, 1777, General Maxwell engaged a body of British troops at Spanktown, now Rahway, as well as at Elizabethtown, and, having occupied the latter place, captured a large amount of supplies. Toward the latter part of the month Whig raiders captured a quantity of cattle, wagons, and horses near New Brunswick.
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A similar raid occurred near Somerset Court House. Near Middletown, in Monmouth County, early in January, a sharp contest occurred be- tween Major Mifflin and Lieutenant-Colonel John Morris, of the Second Battalion New Jersey Loyal- ists, while from Shrewsbury somewhat later the Americans drove a party of Tories to seek pro- tection on the British men-of-war. In February the King's troops drove out the Whigs of that vicinity, while on the 8th of February, at Quib- bletown, the British captured a quantity of forage. On the 23d of February Colonel Maw- hood, in a foraging expedition, had a brush with the Whigs near Morristown. Early in March an expedition, although unsuccessful, was made by the Americans against the Sandy Hook light- house.
The urgent need of provisions kept both armies seeking supplies, and during the spring meetings between opposing forces were of almost daily oc- currence. Some idea of the character of this type of warfare may be gathered from one of many newspaper accounts printed while the army was in quarters at Bound Brook. A correspond- ent of the Pennsylvania Journal for June 4, 1777, thus refers to an event, the descriptive terms used concerning the King's troops being of par- ticular interest:
On Monday last we had a brush with the Philistines, killed three
Nathan Hale, b. in Coventry, Conn., June 6, 1755 ; grad. Yale College 1773 ; enlisted in Continental army 1775; captain in "Congress's Own" Regiment; cap- tured by Sir William Howe's soldiers ; executed as a spy by the British Sept. 22, 1776 ; his last words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
Nathan Hale
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light-horse men, four Highlanders, and one Lieut. Colonel, the latter was killed by a 6 pound shot. We had only two slightly wounded. The locusts have kept in since, they are not able to pay so dear for travelling so little a way.
The northeastern part of the State was laid under tribute, and although General Washington and Governor Livingston issued proclamations concerning the confiscation of private property the farmers suffered at both the hands of the organized militia and the King's troops. In spite of the claims of the British officers the Anglo- Hessian soldiery were hard pressed for food at New Brunswick, although their condition was far superior to that of the American army at Morris- town.
The contest was in the mid-summer transferred to the valley of the Delaware, where for a time Philadelphia became the theater of war, and West Jersey becomes the center of military activity.
John Paul Jones, b. in Scotland, July 6, 1747 ; came to Virginia 1773; first lieutenant in the Continental navy 1775; received from the French commander, in Europe, the first salute ever given the American flag by a foreign man-of-war 1778; commanded the "Bon- homme Richard" ; d. in Paris, July 18, 1799.
PAUL JONES.
CHAPTER X
THE OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA
T WAS upon the 30th of June, 1777, that General Howe, by moving his troops from Amboy while the fleet was sent around Staten Island, totally evacuated New Jer- sey. The close of the winter campaign was marked by a series of movements which turned the eastern part of the State into a vast military chess- board, with marches and countermarches, feints and ruses. Primarily Howe had the capture of Philadelphia as his goal, such a plan having been agreed upon early in April. Hoping to reach Philadelphia by a forced march through New Jer- sey, the British general-in-chief was thwarted by the presence of Arnold in Trenton and the ac- tivity of the militia in the central part of the State. Endeavoring to draw Washington into a general engagement, actions occurred in the vicinity of Quibbletown and Westfield, and at Piscataway, Bonhamtown, and Metuchen.
Although the armies lay within a few miles of each other, General Washington for nearly two months possessed no definite knowledge of Howe's purpose. During three weeks, until late in July, the British fleet remained off Sandy Hook, while Washington, fearing that a movement up the Hudson was projected for the purpose of obtain- ing a junction with the King's troops in Canada, removed his army to Morristown, where, as he wrote to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut: "It
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will be more conveniently situated for succoring Peeks Kill or the Eastern States and will be near enough to oppose any design on Philadelphia."
General Sullivan was pushed forward to Pomp- ton to the relief of Peekskill. Upon the 11th of July the whole American army marched to Pomp- ton Plains, seventeen miles from Morristown, where, according to tradition, Washington had his headquarters in a " little frame house on the banks of the Wynockie, which stands at the bend of a road leading from Ryerson Furnace to the Passaic County Hotel." Detained by the rain, it was not until the 14th of July that Washington reached Van Aulen's, a short distance from Pond's Church, arriving upon the 15th at Suffern's Tav- ern in Orange County, near Smith's Clove. Here within a short distance of West Point Washing- ton learned that General Saint Clair had, upon the 6th of July, evacuated Ticonderoga and Fort Independence, giving to General Burgoyne the control of the Lake George region. To Washing- ton this stroke was severe, filling him with sur- prise, chagrin, and distress.
While General Washington, under a misappre- hension, was preparing in the North for the in- vasion of an imaginary foe, the foe itself was sail- ing down the Jersey coast. Across New Jersey to Philadelphia hastened the express riders and couriers to advise Congress of the position of the
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crown's ships-of-the-line, the brigs, frigates, ten- ders, victualers, and armed gondolas. It was then that Washington learned of the possible des- tination of General Howe.
Leaving his headquarters at "Galloway's, an old log house," where he slept in a bed and his military family on the floor about him, contented with " plenty of supawn and milk," the command- er-in-chief hastily removed to Ramapo in New Jer- sey. Upon July 24th he directed General Putnam to order Generals Sullivan and Stirling to cross the Hudson and proceed to Philadelphia. By a rapid movement Washington, on the 25th, left Ramapo for Pompton. On the following day he was in Morristown, on the 27th at Readington, and on the 28th he reached Coryell's Ferry (Lambert- ville). Here the news arrived by an express from Congress that two hundred and twenty-eight Brit- ish sail were at the Capes of the Delaware.
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