CHAPTER V
WHEN WASHINGTON WENT TO CAMBRIDGE
Washington, chosen commander-in-chief, set out on June 21, 1775, on his eleven-days' ride to Boston. From Philadelphia to New York he was escorted by the Philadelphia Light Horse Troop. It was an escort worth having. Their uniform was "a dark brown short coat, faced and lined with white; high-topped boots; round black hat, bound with silver cord; a buck's tail, saddlecloths brown edged with white, and the letters 'L.H.' worked on them. Their arms were a carbine, a pair of pistols and holsters; a horseman's sword; white belts for the sword and carbine." Officers of the militia, the Massachusetts members of the Continental Congress, and many others were also of the company. The horses pranced, the music played, and the cavalcade started from the Quaker City for the war that was to make the country free. The flag that was borne before them is now carefully preserved between two heavy plates of glass, and is kept in the Troop's armory, in a fireproof safe made expressly for that purpose. The banner is only forty inches long, but its richness makes up for its lack of size. It is of yellow silk with heavy silver fringe. Around the flag is a graceful running vine. The crest is a horse's head. In the center are figures representing Fame and Liberty. Under them is the motto, "For these we strive." Some verses written many years ago say of this flag:—
"For these we strive; what brighter name
Can man achieve or beauty see,
Than worth to share his country's FAME,
Or perish for her LIBERTY?"
It is a precious relic for its associations, and still more precious because the canton is made of thirteen stripes, blue and silver alternating. Apparently these stand for the thirteen colonies, and so far as is known, this was the first time that the colonies were represented, as on our flag of to-day, by thirteen stripes.
Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported the battle of Bunker Hill. Washington pushed on, and July 2, he had his first glimpse of his forces. It must have been a discouraging glimpse. A few wore uniforms, but most of the men had come in "what they had." The men of a few companies were provided with tents, others slept in the halls of Harvard College, in the pews of the Episcopal Church, or in private houses. Still others had built their own huts, of boards, turf, sailcloth, stones, or brush. Powder and artillery were scanty, and the commander-in-chief had been furnished with no money. Perhaps this was not so remarkable, however, for the members of the Continental Congress had no power to collect taxes, and in reality had no control over any money except what was in their own pockets. Officers and men chatted together as freely as if in their own homes; and if an order did not impress a man as being wise, he sometimes stopped and patiently explained to the officer why he thought another course was better.