He received his commission as captain in the new army in January, being still in Colonel Webb's regiment, which now became the Nineteenth of the Continental Army. For a few weeks he followed the routine of his earlier months there, doing all that was possible to assist his brother officers in perfecting the discipline of the raw troops, deepening their patriotism, and proving himself a soldier as devoid of fear as he was rich in all manly qualities. Not a word of regret can be found in his diary. Acknowledging in a letter to a former pupil, Miss Betsey Christophers of New London, that the novelty and glamour of camp life had worn off, he asserts, with intense ardor, that nothing would tempt him to "accept a furlough" or shrink in any manner from any of his duties as a soldier. And so the weeks passed on.
During the winter heavy cannon from Fort Ticonderoga had been brought through the snows over the Green Mountains. The cannon were placed on Dorchester Heights which commanded the British camp, thus compelling the British general to choose between attacking the American army and evacuating the city. In a letter written in April, 1776, to his half-brother, John Augustine, Washington wrote thus regarding this time:
The enemy ... apprehending great annoyance from our new works, resolved upon a retreat, and accordingly, on the 17th (March) embarked in as much hurry, precipitation and confusion as ever troops did ... leaving the King's property in Boston to the amount, as is supposed, of thirty or forty thousand pounds in provisions and stores.
Washington's victory in this maneuver, his first great success, tremendously cheered the hearts of all patriotic Americans. Congress gave him a vote of thanks, also a gold medal—"the first in the history of independent America"—in commemoration of the event. Here again we catch a glimpse of the delight that must have thrilled the hearts of all his officers, not least among them that of Nathan Hale. But Washington, proving himself in these earlier events, as he was to, year after year, through successive discouragements, "the first in war," turned toward New York as his next base.
CHAPTER V
Hale's Zeal as a Soldier
In the letter just quoted, Washington wrote further:
"Whither they [the enemy] are now bound,... I know not, but as New York and Hudson's River are the most important objects they can have in view ... therefore as soon as they embarked, I detached a brigade of six regiments to that government and when they sailed another brigade composed of the same number, and tomorrow another brigade of five regiments will march. In a day or two more, I shall follow myself, and be in New York ready to receive all but the first."
Uncertain as to his power to hold New York, Washington promptly took the next step that appeared open to him, carrying in his heart a heavy weight of care, and realizing, as perhaps no other man did, that only divine assistance could give him final success. He was bent upon a desperate mission, but to it, with sublime patience, he gave every energy of his masterly mind, and the entire consecration of all that he possessed.