Morris tribune., 1905-04-08


Continentals, and when the British
were tired they had to rest They
would be in better spirit on the NOR
row.
The creek was fordable in dozen
places, but CORVALLIS resisted the i'm
portunities of some of his officers, who
wished to ford it and attack at once
He sent urgent messengers off to
Princeton to bring up the 1000 men
left there with Won Donop and to hur-
: nv up Leslie with the rear guard, six
miles away. When they arrived they
] could turn the right flank Of the Amer
| leans, and it would be all up with
them then. He thought he had Wash
ington at such disadvantage that he
could not escape, though the small ad-
vantage of position might enable him
! to make a desperate resistance even
| with his inferior forces.
eve will wait" he said to Erskine,
''until Won Donop comes up, and Les
lie, and then We'll bag the old fox in
the morning.
So, after brisk firing on both sides
were lighted on both sides of the creek,
and the British officer went to sleep,
calmly confident that he had held the
winning cards and all that was neces-
sary was that the hand should be
played out in the morning to enable
him to take the game again. He did
indeed hold the higher cards, but the
cold fox" showed himself the better
player.
On the other side Of the creek, in the
house of good Mistress DagWorthy,
anxious hearts were debating. Gen
eral Washington had summoned
council of war, which expressed the
usual diversity of opinion on all sub
jects except an unwillingness to fight,
upon which, like every other council
of war, it was agreed. Indeed the
odds were fearful-10,O0O seasoned,
we'll equipped, well trained veteran
troops, ably led and smarting with the
late defeat and the check of the day
against 5000 or 5000 Wretchedly pro
vided soldiers, three-fifths Of whom
were raw militiamen who had never
heard shot fired in anger!
Not even a leader like Washington
and officers to second him like Greene,
Sullivan, Knox, st. Clair, Stephen, Stir
ling, Cadwalader, Sergeant, Mercer,
Reed, Stark, Hand, Glover and
and others, could overcome such dis
parity and inequality.
CORVALLIS had only to outfank them,
them up, roll them back on |
the impossible Delaware and then
God help them all!
There was no Disgusting the critical |
nature of their situation, and the ar
my had never before been in so des-
perate a position. 1t needed no great
skill to see the danger now to be faced,
but the mistake of CORVALLIS gave
hem a brief respite, Of which they |
availed themselves. Wash
ngtOn was not a man before whom it
was ever safe to indulge in mistakes,
md the more difficult his position the
more dangerous he became. Trial, dam
ger, hazard, seemed to bring out all Of
he most remarkable qualities Of the
HILL LII luS u1SASSL uSolCC. ANOtA1AS
alarmed him, nothing dismayed him,
nothing daunted him; the hotter the
conflict, the more pressing the danger,
he cooler he became. No man on
'arth was ever more ready and quick
o avail himself of time and opportuni-
curse of action. This campaign was
be most signal illustration, among
many others, which his wonderful ca
eer affords. Action, prompt, bold, de-
isive, was as the breath of life to him,
ut before coming to a decision, con-
rs generally, he usually called a coun-
il of war, which on account of his ex-
essive modesty he sometimes allowed
0 override his own better judgment,
0 the great detriment Of the cause.
lone he was superb Given equal re-
raj with whom he could not success
ully be matched. In this particular
lncture, fortunately for the country.
e insisted upon having his own way.
There We're apparently but three al
ernatiyes before the council. The first
'as retreat with all speed down the
yer. leaving the heavy baggage and
rtillery, and then crossing at Phila-
alphia, if they could get there in time
ut this would be to abandon the
hole colony of New Jersey, to lose
le results of the whole campaign and
ave the enemy in fine position to be-
in again in the spring, and if this
ere the end they might better have
aged on the west side Of the river.
esides, successes were vital and must
: had. Another retreat meant disin-
grafton and ruin in spite of the lucky j
roke at Trenton. |
The second alternative was battle I
here they stood, and that meant
tai defeat-a thing not to be consid- I
ed a moment. The army must win !
die; and as dying could do no good, {
had to win. A brilliant idea, how. j.,
er, had occurred to the commander |
chief, the man of brilliant ideas. He
oiC.o4 TOD ;r 10 Io oil