The Boys of Old Monmouth: A Story of Washington's Campaign in New Jersey in 1778

by Everett T. Tomlinson

General Charles Lee, who was second in command, and was by some even then suspected of being in secret league with Howe, was present, and his voice was soon heard. Lee was a Welshman, brilliant in certain ways, and had seen much service in the armies of Europe. Many had preferred him to Washington as the commander-in-chief of the American armies, and Lee himself was not averse to the idea. He affected to regard Washington with contempt, looking upon him as a man who lacked military training and of but little ability. His jealousy already had been the cause of many serious troubles, and at the present time, in spite of the fact that he had been exchanged for the British general Prescott, captured in a manner not unlike that in which Lee himself had been taken in a previous winter at Morristown, he apparently was unmindful of all the regard bestowed upon him, and was not unwilling to see Washington make some mistakes which would bring upon the leader the anger of his fellows, and perhaps open the way for Lee to gain his position. This view of the case is certainly to be preferred to that which marked him simply as a traitor and in league with the enemy, although in all likelihood both, in a measure, were correct. Probably Washington understood the man thoroughly at the time, and we may be certain that his troubles were not decreased by his knowledge.

Lee was possessed of a strikingly ugly face, and his plain features were the cause of many rude jests among the soldiers who were opposed to him. But whatever his lacks in personal beauty or moral character may have been, he at least had a most persuasive tongue. His eager and impulsive manner, his commonly accredited ability, and his foreign training, which had great influence among many of his ruder and unpolished companions, caused some of the men about him to become ready listeners to what he had to say.

In the council which Washington called at Hopewell, Lee exerted himself to the utmost to oppose the proposition to enter into an engagement with the advancing British. So persuasive were his words that the majority of the officers voted with him that it would not be advisable to detach more than fifteen hundred men from the main body to harass the enemy on their flank and rear, while the remainder of the army should preserve their present position relative to the British, and be governed by circumstances.

Just what Lee's motive was is not fully apparent. Whether he wished to avoid a battle or simply desired to cause Washington to fail in taking advantage of the favorable opportunity, which Lee himself must have seen had presented itself, is not clearly known. It may have been a combination of both wishes.

General Wayne bitterly opposed the proposition of Lee, and generals such as Greene, Lafayette, Steuben, and others, expressed themselves as being decidedly of the opinion that, at the very least, twenty-five hundred men should be detached from the main body and sent forward to carry out Washington's plan.

Lee's motion, however, prevailed; but while Washington seemingly consented to the decision of the council, we can now see, as we look backward, that his own purpose was not changed. Perhaps he was strengthened in his opinion by the words of General Wayne and General Greene, spoken after the breaking up of the assembly, for we know that they then expressed themselves very freely to their leader.

Apparently yielding to the expressed wishes of the majority, Washington dispatched General Scott with fifteen hundred men "to gall the enemy's left flank and rear," as he expressed it in the letters he wrote that day to General Dickinson and the president of the Continental Congress; and on the following day advanced with his army to Kingston, and halted there on the very day when Tom Coward arrived at the house of Friend Nathan Brown in Cranberry.

As Tom came down the stairs and entered the room below, his surprise was great when he saw young Lieutenant Gordon standing before him. "Where—where did you come from?" said the astonished boy. "I thought they chased you out into the woods!"

"So they did. So they did," laughed the young officer; "but that doesn't mean that I was bound to stay there, does it? I had spent the night with Friend Nathan here, and I had such a good time I almost decided to come back for another. And then, too, I left a lad here whose face haunted me, he looked so scared and white."

"I was scared," said Tom, "for I thought they'd got you. How in the world did you ever manage to get away from them?"