As soon as the decree was made known in Massachusetts, the representatives of the colony met at Salem and from there issued a call to all the American colonies to a general congress. The call was accepted by nearly all of them, though the delegates from Georgia did not arrive until later. Philadelphia was chosen as the place of meeting and the first Continental Congress convened on the fourth of September, 1774. The greater part of the fifty-one members were thoughtful, dignified men. Washington was the most distinguished amongst them. He had written a short time before this to a friend: “What is it we are contending against? Is it against paying the duty of threepence per pound on tea, because burdensome? No, it is our right only that we have all along disputed.... If I had no doubt that the British Parliament had a right to tax us without our consent, and contrary to our charters and our constitution, I should consider entreaties, and entreaties only, the sole means through which we should seek redress. But my firm conviction is that the British Parliament has no more right to put its hand in my pocket than I have to put mine into my neighbor’s.”
The proposal to open the Congress with prayer was adopted unanimously. The minister began his petition for God’s aid in a just cause with the words of the Thirty-fifth Psalm: “Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.” Next a “declaration of rights” was drawn up, which stated the lawful rights of the colonies clearly and concisely. Furthermore the resolution to refrain from buying English goods until the unlawful demands had been withdrawn was renewed, and finally an address to the English people, a memorial to the American people, and a petition to the King were framed. They were anxious not to destroy the possibility of a peaceable adjustment, even at the last moment.
The English people were addressed with firmness and dignity. “You have been told,” the address says, “that we are rebels who are weary of submission to authority and seek independence. Be assured that this is calumny. Grant us the same freedom that you enjoy and we shall glory in our union with you and esteem it our greatest happiness. We shall always be ready to sacrifice all that lies in our power for the welfare of the empire; we shall consider your enemies our enemies, and your interests our interests. But should you be determined to allow your ministers to trifle with human dignity, should neither the voice of justice, nor the precepts of the law, nor the basis of the constitution, nor feelings of humanity, deter you from shedding our blood—we must declare to you that we shall never debase ourselves to become the slaves of any minister or of any nation in the world.”
The King, as well as the ministry and Parliament, persisted in their blindness. The greatest English statesman, Chatham, warned his countrymen in vain and pleaded with enthusiasm, but fruitlessly, the just and honorable cause of the Americans. “When your Lordships,” he cried, “look at the papers transmitted us from America, when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you can not but respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must avow that in all my reading—and I have read Thucydides and have studied and admired the master States of the world—for solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under a complication of difficult circumstances, no body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia.” At another time he said: “I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest.”
Not only Washington’s whole previous life and career, but particularly his attitude at the Congress, caused his countrymen to look to him with the greatest confidence. When one of the most prominent members, Patrick Henry, was asked on his return home whom he considered the most important man among the members, he answered: “If you refer to eloquence, Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of thorough knowledge and sound judgment, without question Colonel Washington is the greatest man in that body.”
It was a comfort to all who had reached the conclusion that the day of conflict was not far distant that Washington not only had great gifts as a statesman, but had already proved himself an accomplished soldier.
The best men in England had appealed to the sense of justice and fairness of the government and of Parliament without effect. The colony of Massachusetts was placed under military rule. The order was given to seize the military stores in the colonies and the beginning was made in Boston. At this a cry of indignation resounded throughout the country. It was no longer possible not to perceive that tyranny was determined to set its foot on the necks of the American people. Patriots assembled ready to give their lives for the preservation of their rights. The abolition of a second armory at Concord led to a conflict. The British were eight hundred strong, the Americans but eighty. When the British had accomplished their purpose, they began their march back to Boston. But this retreat proved calamitous. They were surrounded by the Americans, who had received reinforcements and who continually attacked them. Their loss was frightful and not one of the eight hundred would have reached Boston had not the British general sent out a troop of one thousand men to meet them.
The Americans had not been able to save their stores at Concord, but this success was a great encouragement to them. They had fought against picked and well-disciplined troops, while they were only an untrained band of citizens and farmers, armed with any kind of weapon that came to hand. They were good hunters and knew well how to make use of each tree and ridge and stone wall for a shelter from behind which to fire; a mode of fighting (sharp shooting) which later was used by all armies. The cry “to arms” was now heard from hamlet to hamlet, from village to village, and from town to town. Whoever had the freedom of his country at heart and a just hatred of tyranny took his musket from the wall, girded on his sword, and bade his dear ones farewell. These plain people, ready to assemble at a moment’s notice, the “minute-men,” did not stop to don uniforms, but wore a simple blouse over their clothes; the well-to-do wore their powdered wigs. Shortly before this the British soldiers had made fun of the blouses and wigs, but after the disastrous retreat from Concord to Boston, all their waggery deserted them. From all sides the Americans began their march on Boston, which was in the hands of the enemy. The city was soon surrounded on the land side by fifteen thousand Americans. Their first duty was to observe the enemy and not to allow them to enter the country. The situation was hard on the citizens, who were under the eyes of the British and could not make a move. The British general, Gage, fearing that the inhabitants might embrace some favorable opportunity to rise against him, promised to allow them to join their comrades and march out of the city if they would leave their arms behind. They delivered up their weapons, whereupon he broke his word and detained them as hostages.
To the joy of the British and the despair of the Americans, English ships appeared one day in the harbor. They brought reinforcements of four thousand men under General Howe, an arrogant man, who believed that it would be the easiest thing in the world to disperse the Americans. He had been made commander-in-chief of the British army in the colonies. What he now heard on landing in Boston of the retreat of the British from Concord must have somewhat shaken his feeling of security, for he did not, in accordance with his boastful words, proceed immediately to attack the besieging American troops. Instead, the first move was made by them. In a single night they had thrown up intrenchments close to the city. To take these General Howe sent out the whole British force against the enemy. Both sides fought desperately. The American riflemen had twice repulsed the British and would probably have met further attacks successfully had not their ammunition given out. Thus the brave men were obliged to retreat after the third assault, but they retired in good order, leaving the enemy too exhausted to think of pursuing them.
The British held the battlefield, but how brilliantly the untrained defenders of liberty had met the well-disciplined and picked troops of the enemy, led by their experienced generals! The loss of the Americans was but four hundred and fifty-three, while the British had lost ten hundred and fifty-four men. “I have never heard of such slaughter within so short a time!” said General Howe.
This was the battle of Bunker Hill, and the Americans who fell there richly merited the monument which was afterward erected on this spot to their memories. Every one felt that troops inspired with such a spirit would know how to defend the liberties of their country! When Washington heard of the battle, he cried with profound emotion: “The freedom of the country is assured!” The intrenchments were in the possession of the British, but the battle had not raised the siege of Boston.
On the tenth of May, 1775, the Continental Congress again assembled. The means of defence for all the colonies was taken under consideration. Washington took the principal part in these deliberations, as he had been chosen chairman of all the committees on military affairs. The situation now called for the appointment of a commander-in-chief. There were able men in Congress who had served as officers in the British army and one or another of them rather expected to be chosen for the position. In the first battles—the pursuit of the British and the bloody battle of Bunker Hill—able leaders had also arisen. There were a few who made great efforts to get the appointment, while Washington refrained from influencing any one in his own behalf, as indeed was his custom under like circumstances throughout his life.
At last, on the fifteenth of June, a vote was taken, and when the votes were counted it was found that Washington, with the exception of his own vote, had been unanimously elected. He expressed his thanks to the members for the confidence they had shown in him and promised to serve his country faithfully, but added that he feared the task would be too great for him. In closing he said: “Lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every gentleman in this room, that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.” He looked upon his election as a providential call which it would be very wrong to refuse; it was his intention to exert his powers to the utmost, his hope that God would lend him aid. In accepting this appointment he made a great personal sacrifice to his country, for he was not spurred by ambition and he comprehended clearly the magnitude of the task which was set before him. His tastes inclined toward the delights of peaceful domestic life, the activities of the garden and fields, and now he was selected to conduct military operations which, he must have known, would, even under the most favorable circumstances, keep him away from his family and his home for a long time to come. But piety and a strong sense of duty filled his manly soul and only a slight tinge of sadness marks the letters which he wrote immediately after the appointment. He wrote to his wife, whom he loved tenderly: “You may believe me when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part from you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity; and I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad. I shall rely constantly on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you in the Fall. I shall feel no pain from the toil or danger of the campaign; my unhappiness will flow from the uneasiness I know you will feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that you will summon your whole fortitude and pass your time as agreeably as possible. Nothing will give me so much sincere satisfaction as to hear this, and to hear it from your own pen.”
To a friend he wrote: “The cause of my country has laid a difficult and dangerous duty upon me; but I hope that the all-wise Providence, which guides human destinies, will enable me to fulfil this duty faithfully and with success.”
As commander-in-chief the sum of five hundred dollars a month was granted him, but he positively refused any remuneration for his services. He said that he would keep an account of expenses which he might incur in the public service and that if these should be paid, it was all that he wished. A prominent member of Congress, the accomplished John Adams, wrote to a friend: “There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington, a gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country. His views are noble and disinterested.”
In the official letter of appointment, which was delivered to him on the twentieth of July, a tribute was paid to his love of country, his courage, his faithfulness, and the conscientiousness which he had shown under all circumstances, and to the purity of his life. As the day for his departure for the army drew near, every one who had not yet seen him endeavored to do so. At the request of the officers, he reviewed several companies of militia. All were delighted with his military bearing. Washington Irving says: “Rarely has the publicbeau idealof a commander been so fully answered. He was now in the vigor of his days, forty-three years of age, stately in person, noble in his demeanor, calm and dignified in his deportment; as he sat his horse, with manly grace, his military presence delighted every eye, and wherever he went the air rang with acclamations.” The brilliant wife of John Adams wrote in a letter to a friend: “Dignity, ease, and complacency, the gentleman and the soldier, look agreeably blended in him. Modesty marks every line and feature of his face. Those lines of Dryden instantly occurred to me:
“‘Mark his majestic fabric! He’s a templeSacred by birth and built by hands Divine.’”
“‘Mark his majestic fabric! He’s a temple
Sacred by birth and built by hands Divine.’”
At this crisis Congress felt that it must make one more appeal to the King. This was done in a petition couched in the most respectful language. It says: “We beg to assure Your Majesty that, in spite of the sufferings of your loyal colonists during the present disagreement, we still cherish such tender consideration for the kingdom to which we owe our origin that we are far from demanding any agreement incompatible with the dignity and prosperity of the mother country.” Thus the English government had another opportunity of adopting a conciliatory course. It did not do so. London paid no attention whatever to Congress. The answer intended for the Americans was to be written by Howe’s bayonets and the English government had no doubt that their general would soon report the downfall of the rebellion, as they called this justifiable resistance.
In the meanwhile Washington had appeared before Boston. An army chaplain has left us the following characteristic picture of the American camp: “It is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in their forms as the owners are in their dress; and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards and some are made of sailcloth; some are partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone and turf, brick and brush. Some are thrown up in a hurry, others curiously wrought with wreaths and withes.” To his discomfiture, Washington did not find what he had hoped for. The American army consisted of sixteen thousand men instead of twenty thousand, as he had been told, and of these only fourteen thousand were fit for military service. He found brave men, but not a homogeneous army; instead, large and small bands of men, armed in promiscuous fashion, under leaders who were totally independent of each other. There was no artillery and even the most rudimentary military organization was lacking. To make a military unit of this heterogeneous mass was the first task which lay before him. It was to be expected that the solution of this problem would be attended with extraordinary difficulties. He had to deal with sons of the forest who, though brave, were, owing to their unrestrained and independent lives, unused to military discipline. Such a task was not to be accomplished in a few days or weeks, but needed a long time. Inside the city a picked body of eleven thousand men was quartered, splendidly armed and well equipped with all that was necessary to carry on the war.
Thus Washington found more than enough work awaiting him from the first day of his arrival at headquarters. He was now repaid for the careful training of his youth and his habit of conscientiously carrying out whatever he undertook, of seizing upon the essentials of a matter, and of persevering, with strict attention and diligence, to the end. What industry, strength, firmness, and patience were necessary to call forth that spirit, without which harmony in action would be lacking and enduring success could not be attained! Under the existing circumstances there was at first no other course open to him than to imitate the method of Fabius, the delayer. Thus the year passed and nothing had been done by either side. At the end of December a part of the American troops who had only enlisted for the current year demanded to be mustered out. It was their right and Washington let them go. There were about ten thousand men left in the camp before Boston, while the enemy inside had in the meanwhile been strengthened by reinforcements from England.
The patriots of the country had no idea of the difficulties with which Washington had to struggle. Many had expected to read in the newspapers of battles and victories during the first days of Washington’s command and now a year had passed and nothing had been done. Two of Washington’s letters of that time, both of them to Colonel Reed, give sufficient explanation of the situation. The first letter says: “Search the vast volumes of history through and I much question whether a case similar to ours is to be found; to wit, to maintain a post against the flower of the British troops for six months together, without powder, and at the end of them to have one army disbanded and another to raise, within the same distance of a reinforced enemy. It is too much to attempt—what may be the final issue of the last manœuvre, time only can tell. I wish this month were well over our heads!” The second letter is dated in February of the next year (1776), in which he says: “I know the unhappy predicament I stand in. I know that much is expected of me. I know that without men, without arms, without ammunition, without anything fit for the accommodation of a soldier, that little is to be done, and, which is mortifying, I know that I cannot stand justified to the world, without exposing my own weakness and injuring the cause by declaring my wants, which I am determined not to do, further than unavoidable necessity brings every man acquainted with. My own situation feels so irksome to me at times that if I did not consult the publick good more than my own tranquillity I should long ere this have put everything to the cast of a die. So far from my having an army of twenty thousand men, well armed, etc., I have been here with less than one-half of it, including sick, furloughed, and on command; and those neither armed or clothed as they should be. In short, my situation has been such that I have been obliged to use art to conceal it from my own officers.”
Washington worked tirelessly over the reorganization of the army. He paid heed, not only to outward conditions, accoutrements, maintenance, etc., but he aimed to infuse a new spirit into the whole mass. Among his troops there were not a few wild fellows who led disgraceful lives. Washington issued an order, which read as follows: “At this time of public distress, men may find enough to do in the service of God and their country without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality. It is a noble cause we are engaged in. It is the cause of virtue and mankind. Every advantage and comfort to us and our posterity depend upon the vigor of our exertions; in short, freedom or slavery must be the result of our conduct. There can, therefore, be no greater inducement to men to behave well. But it may not be amiss to the troops to know that, if any man in action shall presume to skulk, hide himself, or retreat from the enemy without the order of his commanding officer, he will be instantly shot down as an example of cowardice; cowards having too frequently disconcerted the best-formed troops by their dastardly behavior.”
In camp this order of the day was attributed to a determination on the General’s part to risk striking a blow. And it was so. It was his intention to occupy Dorchester Heights, overlooking the city. On the night of the third to fourth of March, while he heavily bombarded the city to distract the attention of the enemy, the Heights were occupied and immediately fortified. This work was carried on with such zeal and success that the next morning at daybreak, when General Howe gazed up at the Heights, he could not conceal his amazement and broke out with the words: “The rebels have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done in one month.” Washington was prepared for a furious onslaught from the enemy, for Dorchester Heights commanded the town and therefore a repetition of the bloody fight at Bunker Hill was to be expected. Heavy rains for the next two days, however, prevented the British from advancing to the attack, while the Americans continued their work on the fortifications industriously. When the storm had subsided and Howe again inspected the works on the Heights, he decided that he dare not risk an attack. There was nothing left for him but the bitter alternative of evacuating the city and taking to the ships with his whole army. Immediately afterward Washington entered Boston.
The news of this event aroused the greatest joy all over the country. Congress determined to cause a gold medal, bearing the relief of Washington, to be coined in commemoration of the liberation of Boston. With a humble heart the General thanked God for the victory that had been won. He was happy in the conviction that this event would strengthen the confidence of the patriots. He would have been glad to dispense with the honor, which was to be paid him, for he foresaw full well that the road to complete success in the establishment of independence was to be a long and arduous one.
As all their representations and petitions for just treatment had been made in vain, the Americans felt that the time had come to declare this to the world and to explain that they considered themselves absolved from all their duties to England and resolved to form a State of their own. It was a solemn moment when the announcement was made to the people assembled before the house of Congress in Philadelphia, on the fourth of July, 1776, that the thirteen colonies of America had voted for the Declaration of Independence and the bell rang out, upon which were engraved the words, “Liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants!” The pealing of this bell awakened the neighboring bells to life, and these still others, so that they echoed and reëchoed from village to village, from town to town, and thus within a short time the whole expectant country learned that the great and momentous step had been taken that separated it completely and irrevocably from the mother country; a step to which English tyranny had forced the American people.
Everywhere festivities were held to celebrate this great event. The inhabitants of Savannah organized a funeral procession and the effigy of George the Third was buried in front of the State House. One of the citizens pronounced a formal funeral oration in which he said, among other things: “The King has broken his oath to the crown in the most shameless fashion. He has trodden the constitution of our country and the sacred rights of man under foot. For this we lay his political body in the grave—the corrupt to corruption—in the confident hope that it will remain buried forever and ever, and never be resurrected to reign again over these free and independent States of America.” All freedom-loving people in Europe were in sympathy with the struggle across the ocean. Timid souls, to be sure, believed that this example would raise a storm everywhere against the monarchical form of government, although the Americans had been an example of long-suffering patience. Had they not striven to maintain the monarchical form with admirable devotion? What had they asked of the King? Only that the laws of the land should be respected. Laws are the foundation pillars of all government, even the monarchic. It is certainly true that it was King George the Third and his ministers who broke the tie which bound the colonies to England, and that the colonies did not declare themselves an independent nation until all their sincere efforts for just legislation had failed, owing to the obstinacy of the English government. Instead of giving them bread it offered them a stone. Tyranny answered their respectful petitions with powder and lead, instead of a conciliatory recognition of their rights.
The Declaration of Independence is a masterpiece in style and contents. The Americans did not invite others to follow their example; indeed they deprecate this, for it says: “Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes”; but, on the other hand, the intention is evident, from the beginning of the document, of justifying their step before the whole world, while setting forth the true principles of government. It says, among other things:
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation:For imposing taxes on us without our consent;For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences;For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government;For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;For suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever;He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny.He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.He has excited domestic insurrections among us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind—enemies in war—in peace, friends.We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world:
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their pretended acts of legislation:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offences;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;
For suspending our own legislatures and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever;
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is, at this time, transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny.
He has constrained our fellow-citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections among us and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.
In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind—enemies in war—in peace, friends.
We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world, for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
This Declaration of Independence, as well as the whole conduct of the Congress, won the admiration of the most brilliant thinkers of Europe, among them some who occupied thrones, but were watching without prejudice the progress of affairs. We shall mention only Frederick the Great, who, in his “Observations on the Condition of the European Governmental System,” had given utterance to ideas on the aims of government which were in complete accord with those being promulgated in the forests of America.
“The star-spangled banner” had been raised; thirteen white stars, to represent the thirteen States, shone upon its blue field. The patriots must now win freedom beneath its folds or fall with honor. Many difficulties had been overcome, but still greater ones remained to be conquered. England was gathering all her strength together to subjugate the so-called rebels. New troops were sent to General Howe, including German subjects whom Great Britain had bought to use as executioners in America. The sale of subjects as mercenaries was of common occurrence during the heyday of the small principalities in Germany. The Princes of Hesse-Bayreuth-Anspach, Braunschweig, and Anhalt-Zerbst were engaged in this traffic. Hesse provided the greatest number, so that the German mercenaries in America were generally called Hessians. In Hesse a man who tried to get out of trouble by running away and fell into the hands of the elector’s spies was handcuffed and gagged. Complaints by his parents were answered by putting the father in irons and the mother in prison. In the market-place in Cassel, English agents bought Hessian subjects for one hundred dollars apiece. Frederick the Great said with bitter irony: “Let the lords of the country not forget to raise the duty on cattle also!” “No one,” relates the celebrated Seume, “was safe from these traders in souls [the princes]. They tried all methods—persuasion, strategem, deception. Even strangers of all kinds were attacked, locked up, and exported.” While his subjects were being marched on board ship, Alexander of Bayreuth-Anspach stood on the banks of the Main ready to shoot down any one who made an attempt to escape. In this way twenty-nine thousand Germans were sold to the English as “food for cannon.” “The thoughtful traveller,” says an English lord, “cannot look upon the magnificent gardens of ‘Wilhelmsberg’ at Cassel without a sigh, for the blood money of the citizens of Cassel and other places has been expended upon them.”
As we know, General Howe had been obliged to take refuge, with his troops, on the ships in Boston Harbor. It was his intention to land in another part of the country. Washington suspected that Howe had selected New York. Therefore he had sent the second officer in command of the American forces thither and he followed him in haste. Howe’s fleet had in the meantime joined the new fleet, so that the enemy was greatly in excess of the Americans in numbers. Howe landed on Long Island near New York. His object was to take that city and from thence cut off communications between the North and the South. A battle took place in which the Hessians especially greatly distinguished themselves by their bravery. They attacked the Americans with such desperation that it seemed as though these men, so brutally torn from their homes, were seeking death. The Americans were defeated. They were even in danger, during the next few days, of being surrounded on the island and taken prisoners. Therefore Washington determined under cover of night to embark with his little army. But while he was preparing, at dusk, for the execution of his plan and had given instructions to keep the campfires burning, in order to deceive the enemy, no one suspected that treason was already at work to destroy the American army. A lady of English sympathies had sent a slave to the British to carry them word of the movements of the Americans. Fortunately the slave fell into the hands of Hessian soldiers who stood guard at the outpost. It availed him nothing to declare that he had a very important message for General Howe. The Hessians did not understand a word of the language of the frantically gesticulating negro. They thought he might be a spy, so bound him and took him into custody, not turning him over to headquarters until next morning. By this time, however, his message, which would have been worth a fortune to General Howe the night before, had lost its importance, for the embarkation was completed and the enemy, whom he thought he had caught securely in a trap, had disappeared. Under the existing conditions Washington had acted for the best, and he carried out the plan of retreat with admirable skill. He had been on horseback for forty-eight hours—until all the army was embarked.
Thus the nucleus of the American forces was saved, but their number was insignificant indeed compared with the enemy’s. Many a patriot was full of dark forebodings and Washington passed many hours and days in which he was almost overwhelmed with fear that the good cause was doomed to defeat. But he was firmly resolved to remain true to it, even if his faithfulness should cost him his life.
He who has dedicated himself to the service of his country is most faithful in its hour of need. After this battle on Long Island, a time of deep distress began for the Americans, of which we get a clear picture from Washington’s letters. He wrote to the president of Congress: “Our situation is truly distressing. The check our detachments sustained in the battle on Long Island has dispirited too great a proportion of our troops and filled their minds with apprehension and despair. The militia, instead of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave and manly opposition in order to repair our losses, are dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return. Great numbers of them have gone off, in some instances almost by whole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time. This circumstance of itself, when fronted by a well-appointed enemy, superior in numbers to our whole collected force, would be sufficiently disagreeable; but when their example has infected another part of the army and destroyed all discipline, our condition is still more alarming. All these circumstances fully confirm the opinion I ever entertained that no dependence could be put in a militia. I am persuaded, and as fully convinced as I am of any one fact that has happened, that our liberties must of necessity be greatly hazarded, if not entirely lost, if their defence is left to any but a permanent standing army, I mean, one to exist during the war. Obedience, order, discipline are only possible with such an army.”
Two days later he wrote: “Our affairs have not undergone a change for the better. The militia under various pretences, of sickness, etc., are daily diminishing; and in a little time, I am persuaded, their number will be very inconsiderable.” In spite of all this, he still preserved enough calmness of soul to say a few words in defence of the faltering one. He wrote to a friend: “Men just dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life, unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill, when opposed to troops regularly trained, disciplined, and appointed, became timid and ready to fly from their own shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living brings on sickness in many and impatience in all, and an unconquerable desire of returning to their respective homes.” A few days later, however, when he saw his best divisions giving way before a small company of Hessians, he lost the composure which nearly always distinguished him. He dashed in among the fleeing men, pulled his pistols from the holsters, and aimed them at his own soldiers, crying, “Are these the men with whom I am expected to defend my country?” Despair seized the General. It seemed as though he sought death, for he drew rein, while his men deserted him and the enemy was only fifty paces distant. His adjutant seized his horse’s bridle and led him away almost by force. The retreat was continued, Congress was kept informed of the situation, and at last they determined to raise a new body of troops. But the carrying out of this measure took time; men were not so quickly to be found, and when enlisted had to have some little military training.
The enemy, on the other hand, feeling encouraged by their late successes, were seeking to put the finishing touch to their opponents as quickly as possible. Other things helped to complicate the difficulties with which the American army had to contend. There were still many secret adherents of the British government in the United States. They now raised their heads once more and tried, wherever they found an opportunity, to aid the English army. Some of the States even sent recruits to General Howe! Under such circumstances what other alternative had the General than again to play the role of Fabius, to avoid the enemy, and postpone the decisive moment to a more favorable time? Many people, however, who were in sympathy with Congress, but did not know any particulars about the existing military conditions, became impatient with Washington’s tactics. The difficulty was, that a public explanation of the condition of affairs would have still more depressed the patriots and have encouraged the enemy in proportion. He was even attacked behind his back by ambitious men who, not understanding the situation, united for his downfall and for the purpose of transferring his rank and authority to another. For the sake of his country he bore even this indignity, it never entering his mind to quarrel with his intriguing enemies. Instead, he worked indefatigably for the cause of freedom. He carried on by far the greater part of the business at headquarters without any help. His correspondence with Congress alone took up a good deal of his time. The laws that were passed in Congress had to be referred to the governments of the several States for ratification, and the manner in which the laws were enacted made fresh negotiations with the thirteen State governments necessary at every juncture. We can readily see how all this complicated the work of the commander-in-chief, and what indefatigable energy, what self-control and patience were necessary not to lose sight of the end in view and not to fall into faults, either of rashness or negligence! In order to judge how comprehensive Washington’s correspondence was during the war and his public life afterward, we have only to learn that the letters written by his own hand and the answers to them, which were afterward carefully collected, fill two hundred folio volumes! They are a precious bequest to the American people. “Whoever wishes to understand the whole greatness of the Father of our Country, the grandeur and repose of his character, his unalterable aims and gigantic strength, must go to the font of his letters and reports.”
These were the work of his own pen. But besides these, what a work remained to be done! There was no end of conferences with professional men in the most various branches of activity. His strength and his time were in demand on all sides. It seems a marvel that a single man was able to attend to so many things at the same time; that misjudgment did not embitter him, and that the situation which seemed hopeless to most people did not discourage him. New York fell into the hands of the enemy, also Fort Washington, and the General had to withdraw his troops still farther. Lee, who tried to join him, was taken prisoner.
There are times in the history of every nation when “the deepest sentiments of the people are revealed.” The young American nation was passing through such a period. Let us listen to Thomas Paine, whose writings greatly aided the American cause. He said: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. It is astonishing to see how suddenly a panic arises and how rapidly it spreads throughout the country. Every nation is, at times, subject to such panics, but they have their good side. The panic is of short duration and the heart is then firmer and more determined. Such panics are the touchstone of sincerity and hypocrisy.” And truly this period of hardship was of real advantage to the country, for the unreliable elements came to light, while the true patriots were the more clearly recognized. Congress gave expression to its renewed confidence in Washington’s ability by making him independent dictator of the military forces for six months. Before, however, the news of this proof of confidence reached him, he had proceeded to the execution of a daring plan, by the success of which he hoped greatly to strengthen the courage of some and remove the faint-heartedness of others.
December had set in with great severity, so that the British were not anxious to follow up their victories. Howe went into winter quarters with his regiments, thinking that he could afford to wait for a more favorable season before beginning to stamp out the expiring sparks of the rebellion. In the disposition of the troops at winter quarters the same method was pursued as in the attacks. The Hessians were placed at the front. Washington, who had made the necessary observations of the situation of the enemy, learned that the Hessians lay twelve or fifteen miles the other side of the Delaware River, in and about Trenton. Washington’s whole army consisted of seven thousand men. These he divided into three columns, which were to cross the Delaware simultaneously at three different points and attack the enemy. Christmas night was chosen for the attempt. Washington, at the head of the first column of twenty-four hundred men, whom he had chosen to lead himself, arrived at the river as night fell. A fierce north wind drove snow and hail into the faces of the Americans and the water was full of floating ice. Under these circumstances, crossing the river was not only difficult, but very dangerous. Washington had counted upon reaching the other side by midnight. On such a night and against such odds of storm and ice this was impossible, and it was not until three o’clock that the last of the troops were landed. The column carried twenty field pieces with them. About four o’clock all was in order and the march on Trenton began. The storm continued to rage. How was this march to end? They were to meet an enemy of ten times their strength who, in case they had learned of the plan, would doubtless have taken up favorable positions to receive them. It was uncertain whether the other two columns had been able to cross. (Later it was found that they had not crossed until several hours later.) Toward eight o’clock the vanguard of the first column was greeted with rifle shots which gave the alarm to the division of Hessians occupying Trenton. They had scarcely assembled before Washington appeared before the city and began the attack. They made, at first, a gallant defence, but when their colonel fell, they laid down their arms. Thus about one thousand men, among them twenty-four officers, fell into the hands of the Americans. Several hundred men saved themselves by flight, which would not have occurred had the other two columns of Washington’s forces succeeded in crossing the river in time to occupy the bridges according to his orders.