A history of the American people . panic. Sick and ragged soldierspoured in from Washingtons camp, living evidencesof what straits he was in, and had to be succored andtaken care of; the country roads were crowded withvehicles leaving the town laden with women and chil-dren and household goods; the Congress itself incon-tinently fled the place and betook itself to military stores were in the town, but hecould get no proper protection for them. It was at thatvery moment, nevertheless, that he showed all theworld with what skill and audacity he could dint of eve^
A history of the American people . panic. Sick and ragged soldierspoured in from Washingtons camp, living evidencesof what straits he was in, and had to be succored andtaken care of; the country roads were crowded withvehicles leaving the town laden with women and chil-dren and household goods; the Congress itself incon-tinently fled the place and betook itself to military stores were in the town, but hecould get no proper protection for them. It was at thatvery moment, nevertheless, that he showed all theworld with what skill and audacity he could dint of eve^ resolute and persistent effort he hadbefore Christmas brought his little force to a fightingstrength of some six thousand. More than half of thesewere men enlisted only until the new year should open,but he moved before that. During the night of Christmas Day, 1776, ferried by doughty fishermen from far Gloucester and Mar- blehead— the same hardy fellows who had handled his boats the night he abandoned the heights of Brook- 260. OPERATIONS AROUND TRENTON AND PRINCETON. NUMBERS 76 K I-SEN I I III CAMPS OF GENERAL CORNWAL1 IS AND 77 1 HAT OFGENERAL KNYPHAUSEN ON THE 23D OF Jl NE, 1777 A HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE lyn,—he got twenty-five hundred men across the riverthrough pitchy darkness and pounding ice; and inthe early light and frost of the next morning he tookTrenton, with its garrison of nine hundred Hessians,at the point of the bayonet. There he waited,—keep-ing his unwilling militiamen to their service past theopening of the year by dint of imperative persuasionand a pledge of his own private fortune for their pay,—until Cornwallis came down post-haste out of NewYork with eight thousand men. Moving only to changehis position a little, he dared to wait until his adver-sary was encamped, at nightfall of the 2d of January,1777, within ear-shot of his trenches; then slipped north-ward in the night, easily beat the British detachmentposted at Princeton, as the next
Size: 1381px × 1809px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1902
