Discretion led him for the present to be satisfied with the success already won. The enemy was in the neighborhood with the bulk of his forces and it was to be expected would immediately try to wipe out the disgrace it had suffered. Washington recrossed the Delaware. This daring feat, crossing the river and the successful battle at Trenton, had magical effect upon thousands of citizens. Wherever the captured Hessians were taken the people turned out to see them. They had shown themselves to be the most dangerous foes of the Americans in battle. They had become brutalized through war, and misery had led them into committing many deeds of violence in the towns and country. The prisoners were now in danger of having the vengeance of the people visited upon them for the outrages committed by them or their comrades. Washington issued a manifesto in which he explained that these men had not voluntarily come to America to fight against the liberties of the people, but were the victims of the tyranny of a prince, who had sold them like cattle, wherefore he bespoke pity for them instead of revengeful feelings. His appeal had the desired effect.
In the meantime Washington learned that instead of pursuing him, the British had retired. He then determined to risk a second blow. Four days after the first attempt he crossed the Delaware again. General Howe sent Lord Cornwallis with eight thousand men against him. Washington took up a strong position and repulsed several attacks of the British. Lord Cornwallis was full of confidence, for, in the first place, his army was greatly in excess of the enemy’s in numbers and besides he was expecting reinforcements. So, as he expressed it, he thought he had caught the fox in his lair. He did not dream that Washington had no intention of remaining at the fortified place until it should please his excellency, Lord Cornwallis, to attack him with his reinforced army. To be sure the campfires still blazed through the night upon the spot which had been occupied by the Americans the day before; but when morning dawned and Cornwallis looked upon the empty lair with astonishment and disgust, Washington, who had marched around him with his troops, was in his rear at Princeton, several miles away. There he fell upon the reinforcements intended for Lord Cornwallis, three British regiments, and a fierce encounter took place. The British defended themselves desperately and for quite a while the outcome was uncertain. The danger for the Americans was growing greater every moment. The fact of finding the camp deserted in the morning, together with the distant cannonading, must long ago have enlightened Cornwallis as to the enemy’s movements. Suppose that he should come up and attack the Americans in the rear, while they were still engaged in the struggle with his reinforcements! They must gain the victory and that right soon. The Americans, who had been greatly encouraged by the victory at Trenton four days previously, fought with wonderful intrepidity. They were inspired too by the ardor of their General. Wherever the fight was fiercest, he was to be seen. That tall, manly figure, glowing with the fire of battle, was a magnificent sight. Often the General was lost to the view of his anxious men amid the smoke of battle, and they trembled at the thought of what would become of the cause if death should overtake him now. Such superhuman efforts could not fail of success. The enemy fled, leaving five hundred men dead and wounded on the battlefield and three hundred more prisoners in the power of the enemy. Washington’s soldiers were wonderfully elated. One of them wrote shortly afterward: “We felt as though resurrected from the dead. Recruits flocked into our lines, old soldiers reënlisted.” Another soldier wrote of Washington’s conduct in the battle: “The army loves the General mightily; but one thing they criticise about him—he is too careless of his person in every battle. His personal courage and the wish to enkindle his troops by his own example makes him forget all danger.” Washington now went into winter quarters in the mountainous region about Morristown, took up an invulnerable position, and continued to molest the enemy by sending out marauding parties, to such an extent that they found it necessary to withdraw from the neighborhood.
In Europe also, before the crossing of the Delaware, the American cause was considered lost. Now confidence that America would be able to establish her independence was reawakened both at home and abroad. In France there was an enthusiastic espousal of the cause of the American people and their heroic General. Even in England many gave Washington the honorable title of the American Fabius.
Chapter XIV
Lafayette—Kosciuszko—Steuben
France was the country where enthusiasm for America was first kindled and where it burned most brightly. The struggle of a people for their liberties found great sympathy there, because the French people had for a long time suffered deeply under the misrule of the Bourbons, and the discontent was already brewing which, a few years later, led to such a terrible outbreak. There are those who put the American war for independence and the French revolution in the same category. But what a gulf there is between the two historical events! The cause, tyranny of the ruler, was the same in both instances, but the conduct of the revolution, the aim and consequences, were as different from one another as the Anglo-Saxon character is from that of the Latin. We must again recall the fact that the Americans had been anxious for a long time to reëstablish the old ties, which had been so recklessly loosened by the rulers, on a constitutional basis, and that it was not until they had exhausted every possible means of reconciliation, and until the government had closed every avenue of legal justice against them that they set to work to create a new constitution for themselves. In all their operations they never so far forgot themselves as to misuse the property of the church; on the contrary, their action was consecrated by religion. It was and remained their standard in the creation of a new constitution. What a contrast to the French people, who, in breaking the fetters of their slavery, overthrew the altars of religion at the same time! America gained her liberties in a reverent spirit, through earnest work; while France, possessed by madness, rent herself and did not succeed in shaking off the bonds of tyranny, though under new circumstances it gave itself grandiose names to deceive itself and others. What do the differing manifestations of the popular spirit mean? The Americans belong to the great Anglo-Saxon race, which has a deeply religious spirit. To them the laws of government mean a reflection of the eternal laws which find their expression in religion. Their object is to bring the laws of the State into harmony with the tenets of religion; to make it an animating and illuminating force in the life of the State. Thus in seeking to develop earthly life they draw from a divine source. It is different with the Latin race, in whom this deep religious strain is absent. This is most clearly apparent in the French nation. They have had many political revolutions without gaining any permanent constitutional advantages, and they will probably continue to teach the world that a people, however talented they may be in some directions, will nevertheless never reach the harbor of a well-ordered political status unless the aspiration dwell within them continually to purify and elevate their moral condition by serious examination of themselves.
This criticism refers to the French people as a whole. That there were excellent individuals among them no one will dispute, and these were full of enthusiasm for the struggle for liberty in the forests of America. One of the noblest among them was Lafayette. He was nineteen years old, an officer, handsome, rich, happily married, and his family was one of the most influential in France. He had the prospect of a brilliant position at court, but he despised the luxurious life there. It was revolting to him to see how the taxes, which were squeezed out of the people, were wasted, and as the frivolous and bewildering Parisian life was very distasteful to him, he had retired to live on one of his estates far from the capital, where he passed happy days in the society of his beautiful, amiable, and well-educated wife. But his love of liberty urged him continually to devote himself to the great work of emancipation. Botta tells us: “Filled with the enthusiasm which great events usually inspire in noble natures, he made the cause of the Americans his own with that peculiar ardor which possessed most people at that time and particularly the French. He felt it to be just and sacred. Burning with the desire to take part in the struggle, he had laid his plan of going to their country before the American ambassadors in Paris, and they had confirmed him in his resolution. But when they received news of the disasters on Long Island and were almost in despair of the success of the revolution, they were honorable enough to advise him not to go. They even told him that in the terrible situation in which they were placed, they did not have the means to fit out a ship to carry him to America. The undismayed young man is said to have answered that now was the time when their cause most needed help; that his departure would have all the more effect because the people were so discouraged; and finally, that if they could not provide a ship for him, he should fit one out at his own expense. What he had said came to pass. The world was amazed. This decision on the part of a man of such rank gave rise to all kinds of rumors. The French court, perhaps because it did not wish to offend England, forbade the marquis to embark. It was even said that ships had been sent out to capture him in the waters of the Antilles. In spite of all this, he tore himself from the arms of his lovely young wife and set sail.” Lafayette landed safely in America and presented himself immediately before the president of Congress. Shortly before this there had been some unfortunate experiences with Frenchmen. French officers had presented themselves with high pretensions to rank and compensation. Lafayette offered to serve as a common soldier and to pay his own expenses. His bearing and appearance immediately won the confidence of the earnest men in Congress, and he was accorded the rank of major-general. Washington received him at headquarters with open arms, and a particularly intimate friendship sprang up between them, which was terminated only by death. Lafayette found many opportunities of proving his capabilities on the battlefield.
A noble Pole, the celebrated Thaddeus Kosciuszko, also dedicated his sword to the American struggle for independence. From youth he had been distinguished by a noble and generous nature. At the Institute for Cadettes at Warsaw he soon surpassed all his fellow students through his indefatigable devotion to his studies. As an officer, he became acquainted with the daughter of the rich and aristocratic Marshal of Lithuania, Joseph Sosnowsky, and was soon hopelessly enamoured of her. Both of them were young, handsome, intellectual, and full of enthusiasm for all that was good and beautiful, seemingly created for each other. Her father thought otherwise, for he wished for a son-in-law of rank and wealth. On his knees and with tears, Kosciuszko begged the marshal for his consent to the union of their hearts. Insolent words and threats were his answer. In vain the marshal’s wife and daughter threw themselves at his feet. He threatened to put his daughter in a convent. Then the lovers resolved to fly together. The execution of the plan took place on a dark night, but their secret was betrayed and the marshal sent a number of armed horsemen after the pair. A struggle took place and Kosciuszko, seriously wounded, sank to the ground. When he awakened after a swoon of several hours, he found himself lying in his own blood. Beside him lay a white veil which his beloved had lost in the moment of danger. This he kept and wore always as a sacred treasure upon his person in all his battles. Kosciuszko came to America to triumph or die in the war for independence. He presented himself, without means or any letters of introduction whatever, to the commander-in-chief, General Washington. “What do you wish to do?” asked the General, who was always laconic. “I have come to fight as a volunteer for the independence of America,” was the equally short and fearless answer. “What are you capable of doing?” the General asked further, and Kosciuszko answered with his characteristic noble simplicity: “Put me to the test.” It was done, and Washington soon recognized the abilities of the noble Pole. With the rank of colonel, he was on the staff of several generals. When the British were pursued on their retreat from Philadelphia, Kosciuszko, at the head of a band of volunteers, performed marvels of valor. Lafayette, who was chief in command of that section of the army which was pursuing the enemy, asked, on the evening of that fierce day’s work, who the leader of those volunteers was. Some one told him: “He is a young Pole of noble lineage, but poor. His name, if I am not mistaken, is Kosciuszko.” The volunteers were encamped about a half hour’s ride distant. Lafayette galloped thither straightway, had Kosciuszko’s tent pointed out to him, and entered it. There he found the hero, still covered with dust and blood, sitting at a table, his head resting on his arm and with a map spread out before him. From that time the two were close friends.
We must also mention a German who played a prominent role in the war for independence—Baron Steuben. He was a graduate of the Prussian military academy, the foremost one in Europe, as Washington declared, and in him America had a General who was able to accomplish wonders in discipline. Without understanding a word of English he undertook the office of inspector-general which was offered him, and he understood how to train these free men so that a word or a look was sufficient to carry out his orders with absolute precision. Later the government made him a present of twenty-six thousand acres, “for the eminent services rendered to the United States during the war,” and on this property he settled down. Like him, many Germans had come to America to help complete the great task of the emancipation of a people from tyranny. Whole regiments were formed of German immigrants and American descendants of Germans, and these Washington considered among his most daring and reliable troops.
Chapter XV
Peace is Declared
It was a seven years’ holy war which the Americans were obliged to wage. Dark times were still to follow, times in which, even among the best men, the belief in a successful outcome was shaken. In regard to military organization and discipline there was still much to be desired, for the measure of it which had been successfully introduced by Baron Steuben had not immediately permeated the whole army. Indeed the whole military body was as yet only in process of formation and at the same time the situation was such that unprecedented feats of endurance had to be required of the soldiers. They were very badly off in the matter of arms and other necessaries. Often even proper food was wanting. Clothing and weapons were scarce. Congress had been obliged to resort to the introduction of paper money, which was copied in England, sent over in quantities, and by this means reduced in value. As the enemy commanded the seas and occupied first one part of the country, then another, taking possession relentlessly of whatever they wanted, trade and commerce were extinguished and misery and want were prevalent among the inhabitants. What would have happened had the country not possessed in Washington a commander whose example was always an inspiration to others and whose words of wisdom always appealed to hearts and heads! In war the soldier is readily inclined, especially when he is in need, to take possession of whatever seems necessary or desirable by force. We read of wars in which the peaceable inhabitants suffer equally from friend and foe in this respect. Even Congress closed an eye when it became known that parts of the American army had taken forcible possession of provisions. Not so the commander-in-chief. In this matter also he strove for the just and the right course. He urged Congress to regulate the supplies for the army and showed the unfortunate consequences which must ensue if it became their custom to take possession of the necessaries of life by force. “Such a proceeding,” he says, in one of his letters, “must, even though it should afford temporary relief, have the most disastrous consequences eventually. It spreads discontent, hatred, and fear amongst the people, and never fails, even among the best disciplined troops, to fan the flame of degeneracy, plunder, and robbery, which is later hard to subdue; and these habits become ruinous, not only to the populace, but especially to the army. I shall consider it as the greatest of misfortunes if we are reduced to the necessity of adopting such methods.” In spite of all this the General was continually the victim of slanders. Foolish people misunderstood him, ambitious ones strove to procure his position. Like General Lee, earlier in the war, General Gates now schemed to supersede the commander-in-chief. In some parts of the army there were mutinies. To Congress, which demanded relentless punishment, Washington said: “One must consider that the soldiers are not made of stone or wood, invulnerable to hunger and thirst, frost and snow.” It sometimes happened that the roads were marked with the bloody footprints of the soldiers, who were mostly without shoes even in winter! But at the same time he appealed to the soldiers, explained to them with urgent words the situation of their country, the dignity of their profession, and the demands which the country had a right to make on them. Among other things he said: “Our profession is the most chaste of any; even the shadow of a fault sullies the purity of our praiseworthy deeds.” While appealing thus to the better elements in human nature, he had the satisfaction of seeing that his procedure was meeting with success. The iron hand of severity and its attendant horrors he kept for the most extreme cases, but in these he let the military laws take their course inexorably. Mutineers were sometimes shot and spies were delivered up to the rope.