Washington the Soldier

by Henry B. Carrington

Dear General: We have many battalions from New Jersey which are coming over to relieve others here. You will therefore please to order every flat-bottomed boat and other craft at your post, fit for transporting troops, down to New York, as soon as possible. They must be manned by some of Colonel Hutchinson’s men, and sent without the least delay. I write by order of the General.

Mifflin.

To Major-General Heath.

Commissary-General Trumbull, also, at the same time, bore orders to Assistant Quartermaster-General Hughes, instructing him “to impress every craft, on either side of New York, that could be kept afloat, and had either oars, or sails, or could be furnished with them, and to have them all in the East River by dark.” The response to these orders was so promptly made that the boats reached the foot of Brooklyn Heights just at dusk that afternoon. An early evening conference of officers was ordered, and Washington announced his plan for immediate return to New York. The proposition was unanimously adopted. The Commander-in-Chief acted instantly. By eight o’clock the troops were under arms. The fresh and experienced regiments were sent to man the advance works, to relieve the weary troops, including the militia. The sick were promptly gathered for the earliest removal. Every indication promised immediate action; and intimations were disseminated among the troops that as soon as the sick and inefficient troops were withdrawn, a sortie would be made, in force, against Howe’s investing works. The ruse of anticipated reënforcements from New Jersey, upon removal of the invalids, cheered both sick and well. No possible method of inspiring self-possession and courage for any endeavor could have been more wisely designed.

Colonel Glover, of Marblehead, Mass., whose regiment was composed of hardy fishermen and seamen, had charge of the boats. The regiments last recruited, and least prepared for battle, and the sick, were the first to be withdrawn. As early as nine o’clock, and within an hour after the “general beat to arms,” the movement began,—systematically, steadily, company by company, as orderly as if marching in their own camp. A fearful storm still raged. Drenched and weary, none complained. It was Washington’s orders. Often hand-in-hand, to support each other, these men descended the steep, slippery slopes to the water’s edge, and seated themselves in silence; while increasing wind and rain, with incessant violence, constantly threatened to flood, or sink, the miserable flat-boats which were to convey them to the city, only a few hundred yards away. And thus until midnight. At that hour the wind and tide became so violent that no vessel could carry even a closely reefed sail. The larger vessels, in danger of being swept out to sea, had to be held fast to shore; dashing against each other, and with difficulty kept afloat. Other boats, with muffled oars, were desperately but slowly propelled against the outgoing tide. A few sickly lanterns here and there made movement possible. The invisible presence of the Commander-in-Chief seemed to resolve all dangers and apparent confusion into some pervasive harmony of purpose among officers and men alike, so that neither leaking boats nor driving storm availed to disconcert the silent progress of embarking nearly ten thousand men.

Just after midnight, both wind and tide changed. The storm from the north which had raged thus long, kept the British fleets at their anchorage in the lower bay. At last, with the clearing of the sky and change of wind, the water became smooth, and the craft of all kinds and sizes, loaded to the water’s edge, made rapid progress. Meanwhile, strange to relate, a heavy fog rested over the lower bay and island, while the peninsula of New York was under clear starlight.

For a few moments, toward morning, a panic nearly ensued. An order to hasten certain troops to the river was misunderstood as applying to all troops, including those in the redoubts; and a rumor that the British were advancing, and had entered the works, led even the covering party to fall back. Washington instantly saw the error, restored the men to their places, and the British pickets never discovered their temporary absence.

The military stores, and such guns as were not too heavy to be taken through the mud, were safely placed on the transports. With the last load, Mifflin, and last of all, Washington, took passage.

During the day, the troops and stores on Governor’s Island were also removed; and the evacuation was complete. If the landing of ten thousand disciplined troops by General Howe, on the twenty-second, over a placid sea, and in bright sunlight, was magnificent for its beauty and system, the safe embarkation of ten thousand men by Washington, on the night of the twenty-ninth, was sublime for the implicit faith of the soldiers and the supreme potency of his commanding will.

The Italian historian Botta says of this event: “Whoever will attend to all the details of this retreat, will easily believe that no military operation was ever conducted by great captains with more ability and prudence, or under more favorable auspices.”