Washington had hoped to make a stand at New Brunswick, but was disappointed. The service of the Jersey and Maryland brigades expired on the day he left that place, and neither of them would remain longer with the army. General Lee had been left at White Plains in command of a detachment of the army, consisting of nearly three thousand men. Washington wrote to him from Hackensack, requesting him to lead his division into New Jersey immediately to re-enforce his melting army. Lee did not heed the request, and the commander-in-chief finally sent him a positive order to that effect. This order was repeated, and yet he delayed; and so tardy was his march in the rear of the royal army, that it was three weeks before he reached Morristown. It is evident from Lee’s conduct, and the tenor of his letters at that time, that it was not so much a spirit of determined disobedience which governed his actions, as a strong desire to act independent of the commander-in-chief, and perform some signal service which would redound to his personal glory. 13 He was as ambitious as he was impetuous and brave. He had endeavored, but in vain, to induce General Heath, who was left in command at Peekskill, to let him have a detachment of one or two thousand men, with which to operate. Heath refused to vary from his instructions, and it was well he did. Washington continued to urge Lee to form a junction with him; yet, as late as the 11th of December, two days after the passage of the Delaware, a letter written by Lee to Washington, at Morristown, hinted at various contemplated movements, not one of which referred to a junction of forces. This was the last letter Washington received from Lee during his march.

Two days afterward, while pursuing his slow and reluctant progress toward the Delaware, Lee was taken prisoner. His troops lay at a place called Vealtown, while he lodged at Basking Ridge, nearly three miles distant, at the inn of a Mrs. White, now a private dwelling, situated upon rising ground at the southeast entrance of the village. Colonel Harcourt, at the head of a scouting party of British cavalry, apprised of the position of General Lee, 14 made a furious charge upon his quarters on the morning of the 13th of December, dispersed the guard, and captured the commander. 15 Lee had just finished a letter to General Gates when the dragoons appeared. So sudden was the arrest, and so quick was the departure, that he was hurried away on horseback, bare-headed, nothing but slippers on his feet, and a blanket coat on his back, and conveyed in safety to New York. General Sullivan, who was taken prisoner at the battle on Long Island, in August previous, had been exchanged, and was now with Lee’s division of the army. On the capture of Lee the command devolved on Sullivan, and he soon afterward crossed the Delaware and joined Washington.

16

Washington had but twenty-two hundred men under his command when he crossed the river; and two days afterward, in consequence of the expiration of the term of service of a portion of these, he had but seventeen hundred – indeed, not more than one thousand on whom he could rely. The proclamation of General Howe, mentioned on page 308, vol. i., had been circulated freely in the Jerseys since the day of its publication [November 30, 1776.], and had produced wide-spread disaffection to the patriot cause. 17 New Jersey was now in possession of a victorious enemy, and nothing but the feeble barrier of the Delaware lay between Cornwallis and his well-disciplined army, and Philadelphia, the Federal capital, where Congress was in session. The public treasury was exhausted, and the Congress bills of credit were beginning to be looked upon with suspicion and disfavor. Hourly the American army was melting away, and despondency was brooding over every patriot’s mind. Clouds and darkness were gathering thick on every side. The campaign had been little else than a series of discomfitures, 18 and the inefficient provisions made by Congress for keeping up an army were manifest to all. Distrust of Congress and of the army began to prevail in all minds, and the sun of American liberty seemed about to set amid the clouds of hopeless despair. Yet Washington was firm and undaunted. His faith in the ultimate triumph of the Americans seems never to have burned with a brighter and steadier light than at this dark moment. Although December frosts were rapidly preparing a bridge over which the enemy might cross the Delaware and march triumphantly to the conquest of Philadelphia and all Pennsylvania, yet he was calm, determined, hopeful. When asked what he would do if Philadelphia should be taken, he replied, "We will retreat beyond the Susquehanna River, and thence, if necessary, to the Alleghany Mountains." While there was a shadow of an army in the field – while Congress maintained its sittings and unity – while a single ray of hope for success remained, no thought of abandoning the righteous cause was harbored in the mind of that great and good man. Already, in the very darkest hour, he had conceived the masterly stroke of military skill which presently brought forth such a radiant spark of hope and joy upon the frozen banks of the Delaware. 19

After passing the Delaware, the salvation of Philadelphia became the object of Washington’s greatest solicitude. He dispatched General Putnam thither, who, with General Mifflin, commenced the erection of defenses at different points around the city. Congress, now alive to the necessity for the most energetic action, put forth all its powers. It resolved to defend Philadelphia to the last extremity. A stirring appeal to the people was adopted and sent forth [December 11, 1776.], and a thorough organization of the army was begun, in accordance with a plan matured by Washington and a committee of Congress, while the American army was upon Harlem Heights, a few months previous. According to this plan, all the hitherto scattered Continental forces were to be embraced in one grand army, consisting of eighty battalions of seven hundred and fifty men each, to be raised in the several states. Massachusetts and Virginia were each to furnish fifteen battalions; Pennsylvania, twelve; North Carolina, nine; Connecticut, eight; South Carolina, six; New York and New Jersey, four each; New Hampshire and Maryland, three each; Rhode Island, two, and Georgia, one. As an inducement for men to enlist and supply the places of those whose term of service was about expiring, liberal bounties were offered. 20 A loan of five millions of dollars at four per cent. interest was authorized.

On the 12th of December [1776.], Congress invested General Putnam with almost unlimited power in Philadelphia, placing under his control all the munitions of war in the city, and also authorizing him to employ all the private armed vessels in that harbor for the defense of the place. On the same day, under the advice of Putnam and Mifflin, Congress resolved to retire to Baltimore, because Philadelphia, now being made the seat of war, could not furnish that quiet so necessary to wise and dispassionate legislation. 21 A committee of three, consisting of Robert Morris, George Clymer, and George Walton, was appointed to remain in Philadelphia, to act in behalf of Congress, during its absence. That body, pursuant to adjournment, reassembled in Baltimore on the 20th. The Whigs in Philadelphia were in great consternation when Congress left. They feared the Loyalists in their midst quite as much as the approaching enemy. On the departure of Congress, the active Loyalists assumed a bold tone; and General Putnam, who was sent thither to fortify the city, was in daily expectation of an insurrection in favor of the royal cause. Nearly the whole body of Quakers, though passive, belonged to that party.

In the mean while, Washington was preparing to strike the enemy. General Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British forces, remained in New York, and the operations in New Jersey were under the control and direction of Lord Cornwallis. It appears from Howe’s dispatches 22 that he did not contemplate pursuing the Americans further than the Delaware, but designed sending a strong force up the Hudson to meet Burgoyne, who was to penetrate the country from Canada. Cornwallis urged the capture of Philadelphia as a paramount measure, and Howe consented. Yet, with all his vigilance and skill, the arrangement of the British army in the Jerseys was not creditable to the sagacity of Cornwallis. It was scattered in detachments along an extended line. A body of Hessians, under Colonel Rall, was stationed at Trenton, and another, under Count Donop, was posted at Bordentown. The English troops were divided into a chain of cantonments, extending from New Brunswick to the Delaware, and down that river to a point below Burlington. Small detachments were also stationed at Black Horse and Mount Holly. Cornwallis looked with such contempt upon the weak and scattered forces of Washington, and was so certain of an easy victory beyond the Delaware, where, rumor informed him, the people were almost unanimous in favor of the king, that he did not regard great vigilance as necessary. He had returned to head-quarters at New York; and so confident were the British generals that the contest would be ended by taking possession of Philadelphia, that Cornwallis had prepared to sail for England on leave of absence. 23 His military stores were chiefly at New Brunswick, and there was his strongest detachment.

Lee’s division, under Sullivan, and the regiments from Ticonderoga, united with Washington on the 21st [December, 1776.]. The increased pay of officers, the proffered bounties to the soldiers, and the great personal influence of the commander-in-chief, had the effect to retain in the service, for a few weeks at least, more than one half of the old soldiers. The militia of Pennsylvania turned out with considerable alacrity; and on the 24th, between five and six thousand Americans were gathered around the standard of Washington. 24 The commander-in-chief’s head-quarters were at Newtown, a little village on a small branch of the Neshaming, two miles northeast from Bristol. 25

There were about fifteen hundred Hessians {original text has "Hesssians".} and a troop of British light horse at Trenton; these Washington determined to surprise. The posts at Mount Holly, Burlington, Black Horse, and Bordentown were to be attacked, at the same time, by the Pennsylvania militia, under Generals Cadwalader 26 and Ewing, the former to cross near Bristol, the latter below Trenton Falls; while Washington, leading the main body of the Continental troops in person, assisted by Generals Sullivan and Greene, and Colonel Knox of the artillery, was to cross the Delaware at M‘Conkey’s Ferry, and march down upon the enemy at Trenton. The river yet remained quite free from ice, and every thing seemed auspicious. Unknown to General Washington, Putnam, who had been made acquainted with the design of attacking Trenton, sent Colonel Griffin, with a body of four hundred and fifty militia, across from Philadelphia into New Jersey, to make a diversion in favor of the Trenton expedition. Griffin was instructed to proceed to Mount Holly, for the purpose of attracting the attention of Colonel Donop at Bordentown. He was ordered not to fight, but to retreat down the river when the enemy should appear. This movement had the desired effect. Donop, who should have been near enough to support Colonel Rall, 27 moved against Griffin with his whole force of two thousand men; and so dilatory was he in his marches after the retreat of the Americans, that it was two days before he returned to his post. 28

The division with which Washington was to cross the Delaware consisted of two thousand four hundred men, with twenty pieces of artillery. At dusk [December 25, 1776.] they paraded at M‘Conkey’s Ferry (now Taylorsville), expecting to reach Trenton by midnight. The cold weather of the twenty-four hours preceding put serious obstacles in the way. The river was so full of floating ice that at first it was doubtful whether a crossing could be effected at all. A storm of sleet and snow had just commenced, and the night became excessively dark and dreary. The perilous voyage began early in the evening, in boats and bateaux, but it was nearly four o’clock in the morning before the little army was mustered on the Jersey shore. 29 Washington there separated his troops into two divisions, one to march by the lower, or river road, the other by the upper, or Pennington road. The distance to Trenton by each highway was about equal. The commander-in-chief ordered both divisions, immediately on forcing the out-guards, to push directly into the town, that they might charge the enemy before they had time to form. To surprise them before daylight was out of the question; sudden movements and physical force must supply the place of strategy. Washington, accompanied by Generals Lord Stirling, Greene, Mercer, and Stephen, commanded the division on the upper road; Sullivan led that upon the river road. Both divisions marched so silently that they were not discovered by the enemy until within a short distance of the picket-guards on the outskirts of the village. Each encountered the out-guards at the same time, and a brisk skirmish ensued; the pickets of the enemy firing from behind houses while retreating to the main body into the town, closely pursued by the Americans. The Hessian drums beat to arms, and in a few moments the disordered ranks were marshaled into battle order by the brave Colonel Rall. Part of Washington’s division pushed down King (now Warren) Street, and a part down Queen (now Greene) Street. Sullivan’s division entered by the mansions of Colonels Dickinson and Rutherford, through Second and Front Streets. By this disposition of the patriot forces at the time of the attack, the enemy were hemmed in by the Assanpink, or Assumpink (a considerable stream running through the town), on the south, and the invading troops. At the head of King Street, Captain Forest opened a six-gun battery, which commanded the avenue. Captain William Washington and Lieutenant James Monroe, 30 perceiving that the enemy were endeavoring to form a battery in the same street, near where the canal feeder now crosses the way, rushed forward with a small party, drove the artillery-men from their guns, and captured two of the pieces just as the gunners were about to fire. These were the first decided movements of the belligerents at the moment of surprise.

RALL’S HEAD-QUARTERS. 31

His aids and servant bore him to his quarters at the house of a Quaker named Stacey Potts, while Lieutenant-colonel Scheffer, his next in command, took his place at the head of the troops. But all order was at an end. Seeing their commander fall, the Hessians fled in dismay, the main body attempting to escape by the road to Princeton. Their retreat was cut off by Colonel {original text has "Cololonel".} Hand, with a body of Pennsylvania riflemen. The fugitives, ignorant of the smallness of the force that stood in their way, and having the enthusiasm of only the mercenary soldier, threw down their arms and implored mercy. 32 The light horse and some infantry, in all about six hundred, fled, at the first alarm, to Bordentown. These would have fallen into Washington’s hands, had not the ice and high wind prevented General James Irvine 33 from crossing the Delaware at Trenton as previously arranged. The troops at Bordentown, under Donop, might also have been captured if Cadwalader could have crossed, with his force, at Bristol. He succeeded in landing a battalion of infantry, but the ice on the margin of the river was in such a condition that it was impossible to get the artillery across. The infantry were ordered back, and the design was abandoned.

The victory of the Americans at Trenton was complete. They lost in the engagement only two privates killed, and two others who were frozen to death. The enemy lost six officers and between twenty and thirty men killed, and twenty-three officers and eight hundred and eighty-six non-commissioned officers and privates made prisoners. In addition to these, many others were found concealed in houses and secured, making the whole number of prisoners about one thousand. The trophies were six brass field-pieces, a thousand stand of arms, twelve drums, and four colors. Among the latter was the splendid flag of the Anspachers. 34

As the enemy were in the vicinity in greatly superior numbers and appointments, Washington thought it prudent to recross the Delaware, with his prisoners and spoils, into Pennsylvania. At evening they all marched to M‘Conkey’s Ferry, and reached the place of the American encampment on the other side before midnight of the day of victory. 35

WASHINGTON’S VISIT TO COLONEL RALL. 36

Well-attested tradition says that Colonel Rall and his troops were, as Washington supposed they would be, yet under the influence of a night’s carousal after the Christmas holiday. On the morning of the battle, Rall was at the house of Abraham Hunt, who traded with friend and foe. Hunt was sometimes suspected of being a Tory, but never of being a true Whig. He had invited Colonel Rall and others to a Christmas supper at his house. Cards were introduced, and play continued throughout the night, accompanied with wine-drinking. A negro servant was kept as a sort of porter and warden at the door. Just at dawn, a messenger came in haste with a note to Colonel Rall, sent by a Tory on the Pennington road, who had discovered the approach of the Americans. The negro refused admittance to the messenger, saying, "The gemmen can’t be disturbed." The bearer knew the importance of the note, and, handing it to the negro, ordered him to carry it immediately to Colonel Rall. Excited by wine, and about to "deal," the colonel thrust the note into his pocket. Like the Theban polemarch, who, in the midst of a convivial party, on receiving dispatches relative to a conspiracy, refused to open them, saying, "Business to-morrow," Rall did not look at the message, but continued his amusement. Soon afterward, the roll of the American drums fell upon his drowsy ear. The rattle of musketry, the rumble of heavy gun-carriages, and the tramp of horses aroused his apprehensions, and by the time he could fly to his quarters and mount his horse, the Americans were driving his soldiers before them like chaff. 37 "Business to-day – pleasure to-morrow," is the motto of all vigilance and thrift.

While Washington was achieving the victory at Trenton, the Continental Congress, sitting in Baltimore, were taking measures to strengthen his hands. The extreme jealousy of a military ascendency, which had hitherto restrained the majority in Congress from giving the commander-in-chief such ample powers as necessity manifestly demanded, now yielded to expediency, and, by a resolution adopted on the 27th of December [1776.], before they could possibly have heard of the affair at Trenton, they constituted Washington, in all respects, a DICTATOR, in the old Roman sense of the term. 38

Inspirited by his success at Trenton, the panic of the enemy, and their retirement from the Delaware; his army strengthened by new recruits and the junction of the militia who had guarded the lower posts on the river, Washington determined to recross the Delaware and occupy Trenton, and then make such offensive movements against the British as prudence should dictate. This he accomplished on the 30th [December, 1776.]. The term of service of a large portion of the Eastern militia was now about expiring. He prevailed on them to remain six weeks longer, by promising to each soldier a bounty of ten dollars. The military chest was not in a condition to permit him to fulfill his promise, and he wrote to Robert Morris, the great patriot financier of the Revolution, for aid, pleading the urgent necessity of the case. It was necessary to have hard money, and the sum was large. The requirement seemed almost impossible to meet. Government credit was low, but confidence in Robert Morris was unbounded. In a desponding spirit, unusual for him, Morris left his counting-room at a late hour, musing upon the probabilities of meeting the demand. On his way he met a wealthy Quaker, and made known his wants. "Robert, what security canst thou give?" asked the Quaker. "My note, and my honor," promptly replied Morris. "Thou shalt have it," was the answer; and the next morning Robert Morris wrote to Washington, "I was up early this morning to dispatch a supply of fifty thousand dollars to your excellency. It gives me great pleasure that you have engaged the troops to continue and if further occasional supplies of money are necessary, you may depend on my exertions either in a public or private capacity." 39 Washington, on reaching Trenton, and advised of the approach of Cornwallis with a strong force from Princeton [January 2, 1777.], encamped on the south side of the Assanpink (now in South Trenton), upon the high ground extending eastward from a small bridge that spanned the stream. He took this position in order to place the stream between himself and the advancing enemy. The American force, one half of which was composed of undisciplined militia, was only about five thousand strong; while that of the enemy was equally large, composed almost exclusively of British regulars, thoroughly disciplined. Washington sent out strong parties, under General Greene, to harass the enemy on their march, and it was almost sunset before Cornwallis reached Trenton. The Americans retreated before him, and it was with difficulty that they passed over the bridge to the main army. 40 The bridge, and the ford above, where the rail-way now crosses, were strongly guarded by artillery. Cornwallis drew up his army in solid column, and, marching down Queen (now Greene) Street, attempted to force the bridge, but was three times repulsed by thc American cannon. A strong detachment also attempted to cross the ford, and get in the rear of the patriots; but they, too, were forced back by the vigorous action of cannon and small-arms. The Americans kept up a heavy cannonade until dark, when the British fell back in confusion, having lost many men. 41 At each repulse, the Americans raised a loud shout along their lines; and at last, Cornwallis, believing their force to be much greater than it really was, ceased hostilities, lighted his camp-fires, and awaited the morning for further movements.

TRENTON BRIDGE AND VICINITY. 42

At one o’clock in the morning Washington had silently withdrawn his army from Trenton, and made his way, along a new road, 43 toward Princeton, ten miles distant. This circuitous route was taken to avoid a detachment of the enemy lying at Maidenhead, on the direct road to Princeton. The baggage was sent down to Burlington. The commander-in-chief ordered his camp-fires to be kept burning, and the patrols to march their accustomed rounds until near daylight, when those who fed the flames, and also the patrols, were directed to retreat hastily to the main body. The movement was made with great skill and order, for the pickets of both armies on the Assanpink were within speaking distance of each other when the fires were lighted and the guards set.

FRIENDS’ MEETING HOUSE. 44

Proceeding by the way of Sandtown (see map on page 21), Washington reached the upper bridge over Stony Brook, near Princeton, a little before sunrise, and arranged his column near the Quaker meeting-house. A brigade of the enemy, under Lieutenant-colonel Mawhood, consisting of the seventeenth, fortieth, and fifty-fifth regiments, with three troops of dragoons, had quartered in Princeton the previous night; and at the moment of Washington’s arrival, two of the regiments had commenced {original text has "commmenced".} their march for Trenton, to re-enforce Cornwallis. The main body of the Americans, after crossing Stony Brook, wheeled to the right, and advanced cautiously along a by-road, through low grounds, directly for Princeton. General Mercer, having under him Captains Stone, Fleming, Neal and others, with about three hundred and fifty men, many of them youths belonging to the first families in Philadelphia, was detached to take possession of the lower bridge at Worth’s Mill, on the old highway to Trenton. This movement had a three-fold object; the securing of the bridge, the interception of fugitives from Princeton, and the checking of any retrograde movement of the rear of Cornwallis’s army.

It was an exceedingly clear, cold, and brilliant morning; every thing was jeweled with the hoar frost. As the Americans emerged from behind a piece of woods a little south of the Quaker meeting-house, their arms glittering in the bright sun, they were discovered by the seventeenth regiment of the enemy, then under march upon a hill (now Millett’s) on the old Trenton road. Washington observed the enemy at the same moment, and both commanders prepared for an encounter. Mawhood wheeled both his regiments and recrossed the bridge, just as Mercer, by a quick movement, reached it. Both parties, by rapid evolutions, endeavored to get possession of the high ground on the right, toward Princeton, and westward of the house of William Clark. Mercer, with his troops, soon reached the house and orchards of Clark, a little eastward of the present turnpike, when, perceiving the British line approaching from the opposite side of the height, he pushed through the orchard to a hedge fence, from behind which his riflemen discharged a deadly volley. It was quickly returned by the enemy, who instantly charged. The Americans were armed only with rifles, and could not withstand the furious attack of British bayonets. After the third fire, they abandoned the fence, broke, and fled in disorder. The enemy pursued the flying patriots until they came to the brow of the slope, near Clark’s, when, for the first time, they discovered the American column of regulars, and the Pennsylvania militia, commanded by Washington in person, advancing to the support of Mercer. The flying Americans were checked and speedily arranged in battle order. Captain Moulder’s artillery formed in battery on the right of Thomas Clark’s house, about a quarter of a mile south of the scene of the first conflict. Mawhood discovered the commanding form of Washington passing from column to column, and bringing order out of confusion. He immediately ceased pursuit, and, drawing up his artillery, attempted to charge and take Moulder’s battery. The effort was vain. Being dreadfully galled by the grape-shot of the patriots, and perceiving Hitchcock’s and another Continental regiment advancing from behind the American column, Mawhood wheeled, and retreated toward the high ground in the rear, leaving his artillery upon the field. These the Americans were unable to carry off, on account of a want of horses. The action continued only about fifteen minutes, but was very severe. Washington was exposed to the hottest fire, while encouraging the militia by voice and example. General Mercer dismounted after the first fire, the gray horse he was riding having been disabled by a musket-ball that wounded his fore leg; and while on foot, endeavoring to rally his broken troops, he was felled to the ground by a blow from a musket dealt by a British soldier. When his rank was discovered, the enemy, believing it to be Washington, raised an exulting shout, and cried, "The rebel general is taken!" Several rushed to the spot, exclaiming, "Call for quarters, you d-----d rebel!" "I am no rebel," cried Mercer, indignantly, while half a dozen bayonets were at his breast; and, instead of calling for quarter, he determined to die fighting. He struck several blows at his enemies with his sword, when they bayoneted him and left him for dead. 45 Upon the retreat of the British, General Mercer was conveyed to the house of Thomas Clark (now John Clark’s), then a new building, where he was tenderly nursed by the late Miss Sarah Clark, of the Society of Friends, and a colored woman belonging to the family. He languished in great pain until the 12th [January, 1777.], when he expired in the arms of Major George Lewis, a nephew of Washington, and captain of the horse guards. 46 Dr. Benjamin Rush was also with him until he died. 47

VIEW OF THE BATTLE-GROUND NEAR PRINCETON. 48

The loss of the Americans in this engagement was about thirty, among whom, besides General Mercer, were Colonels Haslet and Potter, Major Morris, Captains Shippen, Fleming, and Neal, all officers of much promise. The loss of General Mercer was irreparable. He had been a companion in arms with Washington in the campaign against the French and Indians in 1755, and was greatly beloved by all. Highly educated, patriotic, brave, and noted for strict integrity, he was regarded as one of the most promising of the general officers with whom the chief was associated. He fell at the moment of victory, for the next instant the shout of success from American lips greeted his ear. Among those of the enemy, mortally wounded, was Captain William Leslie, a son of the Scotch Earl of Levin, of whom mention is made in the note on page 332, vol. i.

BRIDGE AT WORTH’S MILLS. 49

At the close of the action at Clark’s, where Mawhood, with the seventeenth, was routed, Washington detached a small party, under Major Kelley, of the Pennsylvania militia, to destroy the bridge over Stony Brook, at Worth’s Mills. They had scarcely begun the work of destruction when the van of the British troops, advancing from Trenton upon Princeton, appeared upon the hill at Millett’s. Cornwallis heard the firing in the direction of Princeton, and suspecting the object of his enemy to be the seizure of his stores at New Brunswick, he made a forced march in pursuit, and arrived near Stony Brook just after the first and decisive battle had been fought. When the British discovered the party engaged in demolishing the bridge, they opened upon them a discharge of heavy round-shot, which drove them away; not, however, until the loose planks were thrown into the stream, and the bridge was rendered impassable for the artillery and baggage. Delay was dangerous, perhaps fatal, and Cornwallis ordered the troops to dash into and ford the swollen stream. 50 It was almost breast-deep, and half filled with ice; yet the soldiers obeyed, and, in their mail of frozen clothes, hastened on toward Princeton. When near the town, the advanced guard was brought to a halt by the discharge of an iron thirty-two-pounder, which the enemy had left on a temporary breast-work at the west end of the village. 51 Cornwallis, apprehending that Washington had determined to make a stand at Princeton, halted his column, and sent out reconnoitering parties of horsemen. In the mean while, a large detachment approached the battery cautiously, intending to take it by storm. These movements delayed them an hour, and when they arrived at the breast-work and the village, great was their astonishment and chagrin to find both deserted, and not a rebel in sight! Washington, with his little army and prisoners, was far on his way toward the Millstone River, in hot pursuit of the fortieth and fifty-fifth regiments.

The battle at Princeton and its results, following closely upon the brilliant affair at Trenton, produced a strong impression upon the public mind favorable to the commander-in-chief and the patriot cause. Considering the numbers engaged, it was one of the severest conflicts of the war, and in no engagement did the skill and bravery of both parties appear more conspicuously. The enemy lost about one hundred in killed, and three hundred in wounded and prisoners. The loss of the Americans was about one hundred, including several valuable officers. Never was a general more exposed to death than was Washington, when leading the troops to the support of Mercer’s riflemen; yet he escaped without a wound. 52

Washington pursued the fugitive regiments as far as Kingston, beyond the Millstone River, three miles northeast of Princeton. There he held a council of war with his officers, on horseback. The rich prize at New Brunswick was very tempting, and a wish was generally expressed to continue the march thither and secure the British stores. Such a step would have been fatal; for Cornwallis, with fresh troops, and superior in numbers, was in close pursuit; while the Americans, who had fought at Trenton on the 2d, marched all night before the battle of Princeton on the 3d, and had not slept for thirty-six hours, were completely exhausted. More than half of them had not been able to procure breakfast or dinner; many were destitute of shoes or stockings, and in every way were utterly unable to contend with an enemy. To save his army, Washington filed off on the left, at Kingston, along a narrow road running to Rocky Hill. He destroyed the bridge at Kingston, which checked the progress of Cornwallis for some time, and, after having crossed the Millstone twice, he reached Pluckemin that evening. On the way, overcome by fatigue, many soldiers lay down and slept on the frozen ground. Washington remained no longer at Pluckemin than to give his troops rest and refreshments, and then advanced to Morristown, where he established his winter quarters. His subsequent movements, by which New Jersey was soon purged of the enemy, are mentioned on page 307, vol. i.

Cornwallis repaired, and then crossed the bridge at Kingston, and, believing Washington to be on the road to New Brunswick, pushed eagerly forward – so eagerly, over the rough and frozen roads, that several of his baggage-wagons were broken down. Leaving them in charge of a detachment of between two and three hundred men, 53 he pressed onward, and reached New Brunswick at sunset. Again the Americans had eluded his pursuit; yet he rejoiced in the safety of his stores.

The armed parties frequently sent out by Washington from his hill-quarters were generally successful, and the people, incensed at the bad faith of the English and the depredations of the Hessians, joined the Americans in all their expeditions. The British quarters were straitened, their supplies were cut off, and in a short time New Jersey was evacuated by the enemy. Alluding to these results, the eloquent Charles Botta observes, "Achievements so stirring gained for the American commander a very great reputation, and were regarded with wonder by all nations, as well as by the Americans. The prudence, constancy, and noble intrepidity of Washington was admired and applauded by all. By unanimous consent he was declared to be the savior of his country; all proclaimed him equal to the most renowned commanders of antiquity, and especially distinguished him by the name of the AMERICAN FABIUS. His name was in the mouths of all; he was celebrated by the pens of the most distinguished writers. The most illustrious personages of Europe lavished upon him their praises and their congratulations. 54 The American general, therefore, wanted neither a cause full of grandeur to defend, nor occasion for the acquisition of glory, nor genius to avail himself of it, nor the renown due to his triumphs, nor an entire generation of men perfectly well disposed to render him homage."

Washington exercised the dictatorial powers which Congress had conferred upon him with energy and great circumspection, and with a single eye to the good of his country. His recommendations were promptly seconded by Congress, and soon great vitality was visible every where. He took care to provide for meritorious officers in his appointments, when organizing the sixteen battalions authorized by Congress. At that time public clamor was strong against Dr. Morgan, 55 the successor of the traitor, Church, as head of the medical department, and he was dismissed by Congress, and Dr. Shippen, 56 of Philadelphia, was appointed in his place, with Dr. Craik 57 as his assistant [January 5, 1777.].

On the 19th of February [1777.], Stirling, St. Clair, Lincoln, Mifflin, and Stephen were commissioned as major generals; while Arnold, on account of his conduct at Montreal, where he obeyed the injunction "put money in thy purse," at the expense of honor and honesty, was overlooked. This soured him, and doubtless planted the first noxious seed of treason in his heart. During the spring, eighteen new brigadiers 58 were commissioned. Four regiments of horse were enlisted, under Colonels Bland, Baylor, Sheldon, and Moylan. Cadwalader and Reed were both, in turn, offered the general command of the horse, but declined. Timothy Pickering was appointed adjutant general in the place of Joseph Reed, who had resigned. Mifflin remained at the head of the quarter-master’s department, which was regulated, and more thoroughly organized by the appointment of subalterns. Congress attempted to reorganize the commissary department, and claimed the right to make subordinate appointments. So much did this new arrangement interfere with the efficiency of the department, that Joseph Trumbull, Jun., commissary general, resigned. The meddling of Congress with the smaller appointments and the minute affairs of chief officers in the various departments of the army, was very mischievous in effect; for the personal friends of members of that body, often incompetent, were appointed to places requiring talent, energy, and honesty. On the whole, however, the army was upon a better footing in the spring of 1777 than it had ever been.

I visited Princeton and the battle-grounds subsequently to my tarry at Trenton when on my way south. It was a very cold evening in December [December 12, 1849.] when I arrived there from Philadelphia, the snow about ten inches deep upon the ground. Early the next morning, in company with Colonel Cumming of Princeton, who kindly offered to accompany me, I rode first to the battle-ground and Clark’s house, where General Mercer died, and made the sketch on page 29, The air was very keen, and the snow half knee-deep, circumstances which were quite unfavorable to deliberate sketching in the open fields. I persevered, however, and was successful in delineating such objects as I desired. From Clark’s house we crossed the fields to the Quaker meeting-house, and then rode to the bridge at Worth’s Mills, where I made the sketch on page 31. Returning to Princeton on the old Trenton road, we met Mr. Worth, an aged man, and present proprietor of the mill, who gave me a narrative of events there, substantially as related.

MORVEN. 59

We stopped at Morven, in the suburbs of Princeton. This is the homestead estate of Commodore Stockton, and the residence, during the Revolution, of his paternal grandfather, Richard Stockton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. There, affluence and taste lent its power in dispensing its blessings to the poor, and in creating the joys of social intercourse, before the Revolution; there, suffering and woe held terrible rule after Cornwallis and his army swept over the plains of New Jersey. Like others of the signers of the great Declaration, Mr. Stockton was marked for peculiar vengeance by the enemy. So suddenly did the flying Americans pass by in the autumn of 1776, and so soon were the Hessian vultures and their British companions on the trail, that he had barely time to remove his family to a place of safety before his beautiful mansion was filled with rude soldiery. The house was pillaged; the horses and stock were driven away; the furniture was converted into fuel; the choice old wines in the cellar were drunk; the valuable library and all the papers of Mr. Stockton were committed to the flames, and the estate was laid waste. The plate had been hastily buried in the woods, in boxes. A treacherous servant revealed their place of concealment, and two of the boxes were disinterred and rifled of their contents; the other was saved. 60 Mr. Stockton and his family took refuge with a friend in Monmouth county. His place of concealment was discovered by a party of refugee Loyalists, who entered the house at night, dragged him from his bed, and, treating him with every indignity which malice could invent, hurried him to Amboy, and from thence to New York, where he was confined in the loathsome provost jail. There he suffered dreadfully; and when, through the interposition of Congress, he was released, his constitution was hopelessly shattered, and he did not live to see the independence of his country achieved. He died at Morven, in Princeton, in February, 1781, blessed to the last with the tender and affectionate attentions of his Annis, whom he called "the best of women." 61 Night and day she was at his bed-side, and when his spirit was about to depart, she wrote, impromptu, several verses, of which the following is indicative of her feelings: