. The works of Washington Irving. ll. We have here some circumstances furnishedto us by the memoirs of Wilkinson. ThatoflScer had returned from Philadelphia, andbrought a letter from Gates to was some snow on the ground, and hehad traced the march of the troops for the lastfew miles by the blood from the feet of thosewhose shoes were broken. Being directed toWashingtons quarters, he found him, he says,alone, with his whip in his hand, prepared tomount his horse. When I presented the let-ter of General Gates to him, before receivingit, he exclaimed with solemnity,—What atime is
. The works of Washington Irving. ll. We have here some circumstances furnishedto us by the memoirs of Wilkinson. ThatoflScer had returned from Philadelphia, andbrought a letter from Gates to was some snow on the ground, and hehad traced the march of the troops for the lastfew miles by the blood from the feet of thosewhose shoes were broken. Being directed toWashingtons quarters, he found him, he says,alone, with his whip in his hand, prepared tomount his horse. When I presented the let-ter of General Gates to him, before receivingit, he exclaimed with solemnity,—What atime is this to hand me letters ! I answeredthat I had been charged with it by GeneralGates. By General Gates ! Where is he ? I left him this morning in Philadelphia. What was he doing there ? I understoodhim that he was on his way to earnestly repeated, On his way to Con-gress ! then broke the seal, and I made mybow, and joined General St. Clair on the bankof the river. Did Washington surmise the incipient in- ^rs>0S)#. trigues and cabals, that were already aimingto undermine him ? Had Gatess eagerness topush on to Congress, instead of remainingwith the army in a moment of daring enter-prise, suggested any doubts as to his object ?Perhaps not. Washingtons nature was toonoble to be suspicious, and yet he had receivedsufficient cause to be distrustful. Boats being in readiness, the troops beganto cross about sunset. The weather was in-tensely cold ; the wind was high, the currentstrong, the river full of floating ice. ColonelGlover, with his amphibious regiment ofMarblehead fishermen, was in advance; thesame who had navigated the army across theSound, in its retreat from Brooklyn on I<ongIsland, to New York. They were men accus-tomed to battle with the elements, yet with alltheir skill and experience, the crossing wasdifficult and perilous. Washington, who hadcrossed with the troops, stood anxiously, yetpatiently, on the eastern bank, while one pre-cious hoiur after
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