It would have been the act of a madman to pursue any course different from that which Washington was pursuing. His feelings were very keenly wounded, by seeing indications of this spirit of ignorant censure, on the part of some whom he had esteemed his firmest friends. There were others, however, and among them many of the very noblest in the land, who appreciated the grandeur of Washington’s character and the consummate ability with which he was conducting as difficult a campaign as was ever intrusted to mortal guidance.
Washington, with a feeble, disheartened band, in a state of fearful destitution, lingered at Brunswick until the 1st of December. The haughty foe, in solid columns was marching proudly through the country, with infantry, artillery and cavalry, impressing horses, wagons, sheep, cattle and every thing which could add to the comfort of his warmly clad and well fed hosts.[140]
The chill winds of winter were moaning over the bleak fields, and ice was beginning to clog the swollen streams. About twelve hundred men were stationed at Princeton, to watch the movements of the enemy. On the 2d his harassed army reached Trenton. In that dark hour, when all hearts began to fail, Washington remained undaunted. He wrote to General Mercer:
“We must retire to Augusta county, in Virginia. Numbers will repair to us for safety. We will try a predatory war. If overpowered, we must cross the Alleghanies.”
In these hours of despondency and dismay, Admiral Howe and his brother the general, on the 30th of November, issued a proclamation, offering pardon to all who, within thirty days, should disband and return to their homes. Many, particularly of those who had property to lose, complied with these terms. On the 2d of December a British officer wrote to a friend in London:
“The rebels continue flying before our army. Washington was seen retreating with two brigades to Trenton, where they talk of resisting. But such a panic has seized the rebels that no part of the Jerseys will hold them; and I doubt whether Philadelphia itself will stop their career. The Congress have lost their authority. They are in such consternation that they know not what to do. However, should they embrace the inclosed proclamation, they may yet escape the halter.”[141]
Congress hastily adjourned to meet at Baltimore on the 20th of December. It was really a flight from Philadelphia. Washington had but five thousand five hundred men. It is difficult to account for the conduct of General Lee, upon any other plea than that of insanity. He turned against Washington, assumed airs of superiority, and was extremely dilatory in lending any coöperation. Washington wrote to him:
“Do come on. Your arrival may be the means of preserving a city, (Philadelphia,) whose loss must prove of the most fatal consequence to the cause of America.”
Lee was loitering at Morristown, with about four thousand men. He was an Englishman by birth, and a man of undoubted military ability, but coarse and vulgar in dress, mind, language, and manners. His ordinary speech was interlarded with oaths. On the 12th of December Lee was at a tavern at Baskenridge, not far from Morristown. There was no British cantonment within twenty miles. He was naturally an indolent man, and was entirely off his guard.
At eight o’clock in the morning he came down to breakfast, in his usually slovenly style, apparently unwashed and uncombed, in slippers, with linen much soiled, collar open, and with a coarse, war-worn blanket overcoat. Suddenly a party of British dragoons surrounded the house, seized him, forced him instantly on a horse, bare-headed, and in his slippers and blanket coat, and upon the full gallop set off with their prize for Brunswick. It was a bold movement, and heroically was it achieved. In three hours the heavy booming of guns at Brunswick, announced the triumph of the English.[142]