USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey : from its earliest settlement to the present time : including a brief historical account of the first discoveries and settlement of the country, Vol. I > Part 37
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General Washington wrote to Governor Livingston, that in the movement General Howe was then making, he would not content himself with investing Fort Washington, but would invade the Jerseys. He urged the governor to put the militia of New Jersey in condition to reinforce the continental army, and to take the place of the new levies-a body of men between militia and regulars-whose term of service expired on the first of December, and who could not be depended on to continue with the army a longer period than that for which they had engaged. Intelligence of this movement was also given to Gen- eral Nathaniel Greene, who was in command in New Jersey, and his attention was particularly directed to Fort Washington. He was advised to increase his magazines around Princeton, and diminish those near New York. He was also apprehensive that Howe would attempt to cross at Dobbs' Ferry, and envelope the troops about Fort Lee, as well as those in Fort Washington.
General Greene was also advised of this, and drew his men from Amboy-a body of whom he posted on the heights to defend the passage at Dobbs' Ferry.
At this time General Washington had his headquarters at Hackensack.
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The garrison of Fort Washington was under the command of Colonel Magraw, a brave and intrepid officer. General Howe, with his army, crossed the Hudson river in boats, and on the 15th of November he summoned the garrison to surrender on pain of being put to the sword ; upon which Colonel Magraw replied that he should defend it to the last extremity. This summons was immediately communicated to General Greene, at Fort Lee, and by him to the commander-in-chief at Hackensack. Washington immediately rode to Fort Lee, and though late in the night, was proceeding to Fort Washington, where he ex- pected to meet Generals Putnam and Greene, when, in crossing the river, he met those officers, returning from a visit to that post, when, having a good report from them, they returned to- gether to Fort Lee.
But although the place was extremely strong, the British car- ried it by storm about ten o'clock in the morning, the British being reinforced by the arrival of a detachment which had crossed the Harlem river; they were overpowered and com- pelled to abandon their lines and retreat towards the fort. This retreat having been conducted with considerable confusion, a part of the men were intercepted by the division under Colonel Stirling and made prisoners. The British general having car- ried the lines and all the strong ground adjoining them, again summoned Colonel Magraw to surrender. While the capitula- tion was in progress, General Washington sent him word to hold out until evening, when he would endeavor to bring off the gar- rison ; but Magraw had already proceeded too far to retract. It is not likely, however, that the place could have resisted an assault from so formidable a force as threatened them on every side, as the first division, consisting of two columns of Hessians and Waldeckers, amounting to about five thousand men, under command of General Knyphausen, had invested them on the north ; the second, consisting of the first and second battalions of British light infantry and two battalions of guards, under Brigadier-General Mathews, supported by Lord Cornwallis, at the head of the first and second battalions of grenadiers and the thirty-first regiment, was on the east ; while the third division, under Lieutenant-Colonel Sterling, crossed the river higher up;
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and the fourth, under Lord Percy, accompanied by General Howe in person, was to attack the lines in front and on the south side.
The attacks on the north and south by General Knyphausen and Lord Percy, were made upon Colonel Rawlings and General Cadwalader at about the same instant, who maintained their ground for a considerable time ; but while General Cadwalader was engaged in the first line against Lord Percy, on the south, the second and third divisions dispersed the troops fronting Harlem river, together with a detachment sent by Cadwalader to support them.
The fort in which they had taken refuge being too small, to contain all the troops, and their ammunition being nearly ex- hausted, they were compelled to surrender as prisoners of war.
The prisoners taken on this occasion was reported by General Howe to have been two thousand six hundred, exclusive of officers, but General Washington reported them at two thousand.
This was the greatest loss the Americans had yet sustained, and their cause bore a hopeless aspect, but General Washington, having full confidence in the justness of the cause and of their final success, at once set about to concert measures that would ultimately accomplish their overthrow, and after the surrender of Fort Washington he made arrangements to evacuate Fort Lee and remove the stores to the interior of New Jersey, but on the 19th of November, before this could be accomplished, a 'de- tachment of the enemy, commanded by Lord Cornwallis, amounting to about six thousand men, crossed the North River below Dobbs' ferry, and by a rapid march, endeavored to hem in the garrison, between the Hudson and Hackensack rivers, and with great difficulty the safety of the garrison was accom- plished by crossing a bridge over the latter river. Our army lost at Fort Lee all their heavy cannon, except two twelve pounders, together with a large quantity of provisions and military stores, which fell into the hands of the enemy.
He then posted his troops along the western bank of the Hackensack river, but he was unable to defend his position, having only three thousand effective men, who were exposed to
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the inclemency of the weather, without tents, in a level country without an entrenching tool, and among people who were in no wise zealous in the American cause ; and being still enclosed by two rivers, the Hackensack and Passaic, his position was there- by rendered more dangerous. The position of affairs was now gloomy indeed, and' no reliance could be placed on reinforce- ments from any quarter.
He directed General Schuyler to hasten to his assistance from Ticonderoga the troops of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, who had remained stationed there until General Carlton had retired from that position. But the march was long, their term of service nearly expired, and they refused to re-enlist. General Mercer, who commanded part of the troops stationed at Bergen, was called in, but these troops had engaged to serve only, until the first of December, and like other six months men, had abandoned the army in great numbers.
General Washington, with Beal's, Heard's and part of Irvine's brigades, crossed at Acquackanonck bridge, and posted them- selves at Newark, on the south side of the Passaic river.
Washington now endeavored to collect such a force as might preserve the semblance of an army, to accomplish which, he sent General Mifflin to Pennsylvania, and Colonel Joseph Reed, his adjutant general, who was well known and highly valued in New Jersey, to Governor Livingston, to urge upon him the absolute 'and immediate necessity of making further exertions to prevent the whole state from being overrun.
In this perilous state of things, he found it necessary to de- tach Colonel Foreman of the New Jersey militia, to suppress an insurrection which threatened to break out in the county of Monmouth, where great numbers still clung to the royal cause.
The British now crossed the Passaic river, and General Wash- ington, unable to make an effective resistance against them, abandoned his position, and on the 28th of November, as Lord. Cornwallis entered Newark, he retreated to New Brunswick.
December Ist was the time when the Maryland and Jersey troops in the flying camp were entitled to their discharge, and General Washington had now the mortification of seeing his small army still more enfeebled by the abandonment of these
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troops almost in sight of an advancing enemy. The Pennsylva- nia militia of the same class had engaged to serve until the first of January, but so many of them deserted, that it became necessary to place guards on the roads and ferries over the Delaware to apprehend the fugitives.
While at New Brunswick, the commander-in-chief again urged upon Governor Livingston, that the intention of the enemy was to pass through New Jersey to Philadelphia, and that it was necessary to adopt some measure which would effectually call out the strength of the state to his support, and for its own de- fence. But the governor was unable to furnish the aid re- quired.
The legislature had removed from Princeton to Trenton, and from Trenton to Burlington, but had now adjourned, and the members had returned to their homes to look after their own interests. In the middle counties, those who were in favor of the cause of the patriots were compelled to remain quiet by the British army, then in their midst. In the lower counties, they were continually overawed by the tories, or paralyzed by the non-combating Quakers. Not that this class of the population were less patriotic than others, but their religion forbade them to take up arms. And in Morris and Sussex counties, the militia turned out slowly. Washington in this crisis again urged General Lee to hasten to his assistance.
Washington kept his troops in constant motion for the purpose of concealing his weakness, and to endeavor to retard the ad- vance of Cornwallis, creating an opinion that the Americans meditated an attack upon him, but as the British approached the opposite side of the bridge, he was compelled to retire from New Brunswick. He left Lord Sterling in Princeton, with two bri- gades from Virginia and Delaware, in all twelve hundred men, for the purpose of watching the enemy, while he continued his march, with the residue of his army, to Trenton. He had di- rected to collect and place under sufficient guard all the boats on the Delaware river, from Philadelphia upwards, for seventy miles in order to stop the progress of the enemy at this river, hoping that in the meantime reinforcements would arrive, sufficient to enable him to dispute its passage. He then with,
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great labor transported his few remaining military stores and baggage across the Delaware, determining to remain there as long as possible with the small force that still adhered to him.
In his retreat into and through New Jersey, he met with every circumstance that could embarrass and depress him, which com- menced immediately after the heavy loss he had sustained at Fort Washington. In fourteen days after, the whole flying camp claimed its discharge, as well as other troops, whose time of service expired about the same time, were leaving him daily. Every man of the two New Jersey regiments, which had been forwarded by General Gates, and were under General St. Clair, left as soon as they entered their own state, and nothing was left of them but a few officers. Those who were with Washing- ton, composed mostly of the garrison of Fort Lee, had no tents, blankets or shoes, and were without the necessary utensils to cook their provisions.
Scarce any one joined him during his retreat, which occupied nineteen days to march ninety miles, while numbers daily flocked to the royal army, to make their peace with them, and crave protection. The British army was well appointed, well clad, brilliant and imposing, while that of our own was in tatters, and were reproached by the tories, as ragamuffins. While our army was in this condition, the King of Great Britain issued a procla- mation to all persons assembled in arms against his Majesty's government, to disband and return to their homes, and to the civil officers to desist from their treasonable practices, and give up their usurped authority. A full pardon was offered to all, who, within sixty days would appear before an officer of the crown, claim the benefit of the proclamation, and subscribe a declaration of submission to the royal authority. A great many took advantage of this and craved the protection of their conquerors, upon the plea that they were opposed to the measures adopted, and were at all times opposed to indepen- dence.
Washington having secured his baggage and stores, and learn- ing that Cornwallis had stopped at New Brunswick, detached twelve hundred men to Princeton, on the 6th of December, hoping by his appearing to advance, he might not only delay the progress of the British, but reanimate the people of the state.
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General Mifflin having been highly successful in raising troops in Pennsylvania, and particularly in Philadelphia, where a large proportion of the inhabitants of that city capable of bear- ing arms, had associated in defence of the country, fifteen hun- dred of whom now marched to Trenton; congress also ordered a German battalion to the same place. Washington immediately upon receiving this reinforcement, commenced his march to Princeton, but before he had reached it, he learned that Corn_ wallis was rapidly advancing from New Brunswick by different routes, with the intention of getting in his rear, and he was obliged to retreat across the Delaware, and establish himself in Pennsylvania.
Washington having secured the boats, and broken down the bridges on the roads leading along the Jersey shore, posted his army on the west bank of the river, to guard the fords by which the enemy might pass, and as his rear guard crossed the river, the glistening bayonets of the enemy came in sight. The main body halted at Trenton, and stationed detachments above and below, so as to render it uncertain where they might attempt to pass.
Cornwallis attempted to seize a number of boats at Coryell's ferry, which were guarded by Lord Sterling, but was unsuccess- ful ; he then repaired the bridges below Trenton, and sent a strong detachment of his troops to Bordentown, six miles be- low, evidently showing his design was, to cross the river both above and below Trenton, and in two columns to march directly to Philadelphia, or to completely envelop the American army.
General Washington in his endeavors to counteract this plan, stationed four brigades under Generals Lord Sterling, Mercer, Stephens and DeFormoy, from Yardley's to Coryell's ferry, in such manner as to guard every suspicious point of the river, and to assist each other in case of attack. General Irvine,* with a portion of the Pennsylvania flying camp, and some New Jersey
* In Spark's Life of Washington, this officer is called Ewing ; in Marshall's Irvine, and in Wilkinson's, Irving-all evidently meaning the same officer.
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militia under General Dickenson, were posted from Yardley's ferry down to the ferry opposite Bordentown. Colonel Cadwal- ader, with the Pennsylvania militia was stationed on the Nesham- ony as far as Dunk's ferry, at which place was also Colonel Nix- on, with the Philadelphia battalion. Strict orders were given these officers as to their line of conduct, in case he should be driven from his post, and forced from the river, to rendezvous on the high grounds at Germantown.
General Lee having been frequently directed to join the rest of the army, but being desirous of retaining his separate com- mand, was slow to obey, desiring rather to threaten the rear of the British army, than to strengthen the army in front of them. In opposition to the judgment of Washington, he established himself at Morristown. Being again urged to march, he pro- ceeded reluctantly toward the Delaware.
Information of his march having been communicated to the British, General Harcourt, with a body of cavalry, while he was passing through Morris county, near Baskingridge, and about twenty miles from the British encampment, stopped at a house about three miles from his troops, and early in the morning of the twelfth of December, reached Lee's headquarters, and surrounding the house, Lee became a prisoner, and was borne off in triumph to the British army, where for some time he was treated not as a prisoner of war, but as a deserter from the British service.
This misfortune made a painful impression throughout Ameri- ca. No officer except the commander-in-chief himself, had so large a share of the confidence of the army and country ; his capture therefore was universally bewailed, as the greatest calam- ity that had befallen the army.
After the capture of Lee, the command fell on General Sulli- van, who obeyed the orders promptly, and on the twentieth of December, he joined Washington by the way of Phillipsburg. General Gates arrived the same day with some northern troops. These with other reinforcements increased the American army to about seven thousand men. .
The British were unable to obtain boats, and were therefore, unsuccessful in crossing the river as they had anticipated to do;
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he therefore determined to close the campaign, and retire into winter quarters. He disposed his army of about four thousand men, on the Delaware at Trenton, Bordentown, White Horse and Mount Holly, the remainder he distributed from the Dela- ware to the Hackensack rivers. Washington supposing that the object of the enemy was to attempt to gain Philadelphia, in case the ice became sufficiently firm to bear them.
In order to counteract this, three regiments marching from Peekskill, were halted at Morristown, and there consolidated with about eight hundred New Jersey militia under General Ford. This whole command was placed under General Maxwell, of this state.
He was to watch the movements of the enemy and harass their marches, and to communicate intelligence as to their move- ments, particularly such as might be made from New Brunswick towards Princeton or Trenton, and to prevent the inhabitants from going within the British lines for protection.
At this perilous juncture Washington labored to impress upon congress the necessity of making still greater exertions to form a permanent army, particularly to increase the cavalry, artillery and engineers, and also to extend his own powers, which were not sufficient to meet cases which daily occurred.
His army at this time, except a few regiments from Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New York, leaving him an effective ยท force of only about fifteen hundred men, would dissolve in a few days. New Jersey had in a great measure submitted, but the militia of Pennsylvania had not displayed as much alacrity as had been expected, and, in case the ice on the Delaware proved sufficient to bear them, it was feared that General Howe would capture Philadelphia, which would have a dangerous effect on the contest.
But General Washington saw a ray of hope in the dispersed situation of the British army, and determined to strike a blow, which if successful might recover the ground he had lost, and retrieve his cause. He therefore formed the daring plan of attack- ing all the British posts on the Delaware. This plan was sug- gested by General Joseph Reed.
" In the present alarming position of affairs in America, it was
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of great moment that something should be done to rouse the spirit of the country, which had been so greatly depressed by the retreat through the Jerseys. Washington devoted anxious thought and prayerful attention to a plan, which he determined at the earliest moment to carry into effective action. At the time the Americans crossed the Delaware, winter was fast setting in, and the British general determined not to carry on active operations, during the inclement season of the year. He seemed to have lost all fear of a feeble enemy, whom he had so easily driven be- fore him, and whom he confidently expected soon to annihilate ; he therefore cantoned his troops with a view to the convenient resumption of their march, rather than with any regard to security against a fugitive foe.
" As he entertained not the slightest apprehension of an attack, he paid little attention to the arrangement of his several posts, for the purpose of mutual support. He stationed a detachment of about fifteen hundred Hessians at Trenton, under Colonel Rahl, and about two thousand at Bordentown, under Count Donop, the rest of the army was quartered over the country, be- tween the Hackensack and Delaware rivers. Howe felt perfectly secure in his winter quarters, for so far as appearances went, he had no cause to fear anything from the Americans ; for with an over-powering force, well disciplined, and flushed with victory, he felt quite justified in treating with contempt the small and broken army of Washington.
" He did not suppose the commander-in-chief would dare venture upon offensive operations. But Washington determined to anticipate the movements of Howe, and to strike a blow which should be felt, and which should demonstrate to the enemy, as well as the people of America, that the cause of in- dependence was by no means hopeless. He therefore formed his available forces into three divisions, and accompanied by Greene and Sullivan, proposed to cross the river at McConkey's ferry, about nine miles above Trenton, and fall upon the Hessians in that town.
"The second division, under General Ewing, was to cross over at Trenton ferry, and taking charge of the bridge over the Assanpink, were to cut off the enemy's retreat ; while the third,
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under General Cadwalader, was to cross lower down, from Bristol, about ten miles below Trenton, over to Burlington. Had the plan been executed at all points it must have resulted in the capture of the whole line of the British cantonments, but owing to a variety of obstacles it was but partially successful. The evening of Christmas day was selected, because it was known to the commander-in-chief, that the Germans held that day as a general holiday, and he knew they, feeling secure in the town, would give way to more than ordinary indulgence and festivity, and would not be on their guard for the approach of an enemy.
"The night was intensely cold ; the Delaware was choked with floating masses of ice; the current was strong; and the wind blew keenly and sharply.
" He exhorted the soldiers to be firm, and they remembered, with indignation, the outrages and injuries inflicted upon the people of New Jersey by the insolent foe, and the no less inso- lent and vindictive tories. They were now ready to do or die . for their homes and their country.
"Washington had expected that the passage of his division might have been effected by midnight, but the dreadful weather, the encumbered state, of the river, and the difficulty of getting the artillery across, occasioned so much delay, that it was four o'clock before the whole body were in marching order on the New Jersey shore.
"The darkness of a winter morning was still further deepened by a heavy fog, and the road was rendered slippery by a frosty mist. The snow and hail beat upon them during the whole march.
" As it would be daylight before they could reach Trenton, a surprise of that post was now out of the question ; there was, however, no alternative left but to proceed. Washington took the upper road, while Sullivan commanded the lower ; and about eight o'clock in the morning, both parties encountered the pickets of the enemy, who, keeping up a fire from behind the houses, fell back upon the town, and aroused their comrades.
"The Americans followed them up so closely that they were able to open a battery at the head of King street, the principal
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street of the town, before the astounded Hessians could offer any effectual resistance."*
While the two armies were in and around Boston they suffered severely from the small pox; the enemy, in order to avoid the pestilence, and finding it a more favorable place as their base of operations, removed to New York, which necessarily led to the breaking up of the American camp at the former place. A portion of the enemy's force proceeded to Charleston, South Carolina, where they met with the memorable defeat at Fort Moultrie. Acting upon the presumption that New York was the objective point of the British commander, Washington ordered his troops in that direction.
The brigade of General Nathaniel Greene was despatched to Long Island, where he arrived about the middle of April, and established his headquarters at Brooklyn; the remainder of the American troops were put in possession of New York, while the enemy were encamped on Staten Island, in New Jersey.
To Greene was assigned the command of the troops in New Jersey, and he established his headquarters at Fort Lee, on the Hudson, about nine miles above New York, or at Bergen, as events required his presence at either place, in order to keep open a communication with the main army east of the Hudson river, and secure for Washington a retreat, should circumstances render it necessary.
Overwhelmed by the enemy, the army abandoned this part of the state, and made their retreat through New Jersey, and con- tinued across the state until they had arrived upon the Penn- sylvania side of the Delaware river.
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