CHAP. VIII. losses and fatigues, retreating almost naked 1776. and barefooted, in the cold of November and December, before a numerous, well appointed and victorious army, through a desponding country, much more disposed to secure safety by submission, than to seek it by a manly resistance. In this crisis of American affairs, a proclamation was issued by lord and general Howe, as commissioners appointed on the part of the crown for restoring peace to America, commanding all persons assembled in arms against his majesty's government, to disband and return to their homes; and all civil officers to desist from their treasonable practices, and relinquish their usurped authority. A full pardon was also offered to every person who would within sixty days, appear before certain civil or military officers of the crown, and claim the benefit of that proclamation; and, at the same time, testify his obedience to the laws by subscribing a declaration of his submission to the royal authority. Copies of this proclamation were immediately dispersed through the country; after which, numbers flocked in, daily, for the purpose of making their peace and obtaining protection. The contrast between the splendid appearance of the pursuing army, and that made by the ragged Americans who were flying before them, diminished in numbers, and destitute of almost every necessary, could not fail to contribute to the general opinion, CHAP. VIIL that the contest was approaching its termination. Among the many valuable traits in the character of general Washington, was that unyielding firmness of mind which resisted these accumulated circumstances of depression, and supported him under them. Undismayed by the dangers which surrounded him, he did not for an instant relax his exertions, nor omit any thing which could obstruct the progress of the enemy, or meliorate his own condition. He did not appear to despair of the public safety, but struggled against adverse fortune with the hope of yet vanquishing the difficulties which surrounded him; and constantly showed himself to his harassed and enfeebled army, with a serene unembarrassed countenance; betraying no fears in himself; and invigorating, and inspiring with confidence, the bosoms of others. To this unconquerable firmness of temper; to this perfect self possession, under the most desperate circumstances; is America, in a great degree, indebted for her independence. The baggage and stores were immediately removed to the south side of the Delaware, and the sick sent to Philadelphia. 1776. Having accomplished this object, and finding that lord Cornwallis still continued in Brunswick, he detached twelve hundred men December 5, to Princeton, in the hope that by appearing to advance on the enemy, he might not only delay CHAP. VII. their progress, but in some degree cover the 1776. country, and reanimate the people of Jersey. A part of this short respite from laborious service was devoted to the predominant wish of his heart, that of preparing as far as possible for the next campaign, by impressing sufficiently on congress, a conviction of the real causes which had produced their present calamities. However the human mind may resist the clearest theoretic reasoning, it is impossible not to discern radical and obvious errors, while smarting under their destructive consequences. The abandonment of the army by whole regiments of the flying camp, in the face of an advancing and superior enemy; the impracticability of calling out the militia of Jersey and Pennsylvania in sufficient force to prevent the enemy from overrunning the first state and from entering the latter, had not other causes saved it; were practical lessons on the subjects of short inlistments, and a reliance on militia, which could not fail to add great weight to the remonstrances formerly made by the general on this subject, and which he now repeated. The exertions of general Mifflin, who had been commissioned to raise the militia of Pennsylvania, though they made but very little impression on the state at large, were attended with some degree of success in Philadelphia. A large proportion of the inhabitants of that city, capable of bearing arms, had associated 1776. for the defence of their country; and, on this CHAP. VIII. occasion, fifteen hundred of them marched to Trenton; and a German battalion was also ordered by congress to the same place. On receiving this re-enforcement, amounting to December 6. about two thousand men, general Washington commenced his march to Princeton; but before Seventh, he could reach that place, he received intelligence that lord Cornwallis, who had been strongly re-enforced, was now rapidly advancing from Brunswick by different routes, so as to get in his rear. A retreat, now again became indispensable, and it was absolutely necessary to pass the Delaware. Washington crosses the He crossed that river on the eighth of De-Eighth. cember; secured all the boats, broke down the General bridges on the roads leading along the Jersey Delaware. shore; and posted his army in such manner as to guard, as well as was in his power, the different fording places over which it was practicable for the enemy to pass. As the rear guard crossed the river, the van of the British army appeared in sight. Their main body took post at Trenton, and detachments were placed both above and below, so as to render entirely uncertain the place at which they might attempt to pass; while small parties, without any interruption from the people of the country, reconnoitred the Delaware for a considerable distance. Some intelligence had been received, stating the enemy to have brought boats with them. VOL. II. 3 Y CHAP. VIII. Should this be the fact, the river was so com. 1776. pletely passable, as to render it impracticable, without a force greatly exceeding that possessed by the American general, to prevent their crossing it. The course of the Delaware from Bordentown below Trenton turns westward, and forms an acute angle with its course Danger of from Philadelphia to that place; so that the enemy might cross a considerable distance above, and be not much, if any further from the metropolis, than the American army. Philadelphia. In consequence of this state of things, the general advised that lines of defence should be drawn from the Schuylkill about the heights of Springatsbury, eastward to the Delaware, and general Putnam was ordered to superintend them; while general Mifflin, who had just returned to camp, was again dispatched to Philadelphia to take charge of the numerous stores at that place. The enemy made some ineffectual attempts, which were defeated by the vigilance of the Americans, to seize a number of boats guarded by lord Stirling about Coryell's ferry; and, in order to facilitate their movements down the river on the Jersey shore, they repaired the bridges three or four miles below Trenton, which had been broken up by order of general Washington; after which, they advanced a strong detachment to Bordentown, so as to create the impression of crossing at the same |