George Washington

A

2

Appeal to Congress

Amid much public praise and rejoicing, Washington arrived in New York City, which was the obvious objective of the British forces now gathering in Nova Scotia. Having seen to the immediate measures necessary for the defense of that city, he proceeded to Philadelphia with the aim of persuading Congress to rectify the enlistment situation. This time he came in the bright glow of victory, which gave authority to his arguments.

Congress not only authorized three-year enlistments for the future, but also voted bounties for the enlistees. In addition, a permanent Board of War and Ordnance was created to deal with military matters in place of the makeshift committees that had previously held this responsibility. However, these measures, although wise, proved of no immediate help to Washington in meeting what was then his chief military problem: the forthcoming British attack on New York City.

B

War in the North

B

1

Battle of Long Island

British ships carrying the first units of Howe’s army of 20,000 arrived in New York Bay on June 29, 1776, and the troops began landing on Staten Island. By mid-August the British force, which included German mercenaries (soldiers serving merely for the pay), had increased to more than 30,000, backed by a powerful naval squadron. Howe moved slowly, and this gave Washington time to gather a considerable force of militia from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Even so, his total strength was not more than 18,000, and at least half of these had little or no training.

Washington feared that Howe’s opening move might be to send ships straight up the Hudson River to land a strong force behind the city. However, the British general chose to begin his operations by landing on Long Island. The only American fortifications there were at Brooklyn Heights, covering the approaches to the East River and Manhattan Island. Some 9000 American troops, about half of Washington’s total force, were on Long Island when 20,000 British and German troops began landing at Gravesend Bay on August 22. About 4000 of the Americans were deployed well in front of the Brooklyn Heights fortifications to observe and delay the enemy’s progress.

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These troop placements have been more severely criticized than any other military act of Washington’s career, since they exposed his army to the danger of being destroyed piece by piece. Howe, moving deliberately, made a surprise attack on the 4000 men in forward positions and hurled them back in headlong flight to Brooklyn Heights, with the loss of more than one-third of their number. Had Howe instantly followed through by throwing his whole force against the American lines on the heights, he would certainly have overwhelmed them, and Washington would have lost half his army. However, by not doing so, he gave Washington a chance to retrieve his original error, a chance Washington seized and exploited (see Long Island, Battle of).

During the next 24 hours, working desperately against time—for at any moment the British warships might block his line of retreat—Washington gathered all the barges, boats, and small craft he could and assigned men from Colonel Glover’s Massachusetts regiment to operate them. During the night of August 29, under Washington’s personal command and direction, the entire American force on Long Island, with all its stores, artillery, and equipment, was ferried across the East River to Manhattan without a single casualty.

B

2

Retreat North

Thus Washington brilliantly redeemed his original error, and his later conduct of the war showed that he was fully capable of learning from experience. Never again did he offer battle to a British army under conditions that denied him full freedom of action to preserve his own army should the battle turn against him. Howe finally decided to occupy New York City on September 15. To avoid being outflanked, Washington fell back and fought delaying actions at Harlem Heights and then, in October, at White Plains (see White Plains, Battle of).

During the last two months of 1776, Washington was in constant retreat. He stationed a force under Major General Heath near West Point, New York, to guard the vital entrance to the highlands of New York state. He then withdrew across the Hudson into New Jersey and moved slowly southwestward to the Delaware River at Trenton. There he collected all available boats and crossed the river into Pennsylvania on December 8, just as the advance guard of the pursuing British column entered the town.

This was the darkest hour of the new American republic. Howe proclaimed complete victory. Congress shared his view and fled south from Philadelphia to Baltimore. Washington, with only a remnant of his army, some 3000 men, seemed already defeated and of no further account.

B

3

Battle of Trenton

On December 13, 1776, Major General Charles Lee was captured in New Jersey by a British patrol. The command of his troops passed to Brigadier General John Sullivan, who immediately marched south to join Washington. This raised the commander’s total force to about 6000. Thus reinforced, Washington planned a victory that would electrify the entire country. The British had pulled back most of their troops to winter in New York City, leaving scattered garrisons of German mercenaries in New Jersey. These German troops were called Hessians because most of them were hired from the German state of Hessen-Kassel. The nearest of these Hessian garrisons to Washington’s camp was at Trenton and consisted of about 1200 men. Washington decided to capture this force and set the morning of December 26 for the attack. He was reasonably sure that lonely troops in a foreign land would have had much alcohol to drink to celebrate Christmas Day, and would still be groggy from the effects. This was a good time to surprise them.

On December 25, despite a raging storm, Washington led his small army of 2500 across the ice-clogged Delaware. The surprise was complete. The Hessians’ scattered attempts at resistance collapsed in minutes, and the garrison at the next post fled in haste on receiving the news. Washington was able to recross the Delaware with his prisoners and booty without interference. But he considered Trenton only a beginning because he now received fresh troops that doubled the size of his forces. These were Pennsylvania militiamen who had been induced to extend their enlistments after Washington pledged his own money to cover their pay. On December 29, with 5000 men, he again crossed the Delaware.

B

4

Battle of Princeton

Washington’s objective now was to force the British to withdraw from New Jersey altogether and to station his army in a secure position in the hills near Morristown, New Jersey, on the flank of the British route to Philadelphia. Attacked at Trenton by a British force under General Charles Cornwallis, he withdrew during the night of January 2, 1777. He then circled around the British flank and, near Princeton, severely defeated three British regiments marching to reinforce Cornwallis. Washington then again eluded the main body of British troops and moved north to Morristown. By attacking Cornwallis’s supply lines, he forced the British to retreat to New York City. Thus the British were compelled to abandon all but a small corner of New Jersey to American control. See also Princeton, Battle of.

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