72–73 “We had no . . . every part.” Whittemore, Heroes of the American Revolution, 24.
73 “When I looked . . . dearly bought.” Trevelyan, The American Revolution, 1:311.
73 “There fell a . . . our ammunition.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 17.
74 “that at the Battle . . . taken prisoner.” Pension application of John Hughes, NARA.
74 “Troops fired off . . . own lines.” Philip Vickers Fithian, Journal, 1775–1776, Robert Greenhalgh Albion and Leonidas Dodson, eds. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1934), 220–21.
74 “so much that . . . with water.” W. H. W. Sabine, ed., The New York Diary of Lieutenant Jabez Fitch (New York: New York Times and Arno Press, 1971), 61–62.
75 “had but one . . . enemy’s approaches.” Smallwood to Maryland Convention, letter, October 12, 1776, http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/getobject.pl?p.24520:2.amarch.
75 “remarkably still, the water smooth as glass.” Whittemore, Heroes of the American Revolution, 32.
76 “The effect was at once alarming and sublime.” Alexander Gratin, Memoirs (New York: New York Times and Arno Press, 1969), 167.
76 “Good God! General . . . the line!” George F. Scheer and Hugh F. Rankin, eds., Rebels and Redcoats: The American Revolution through the Eyes of Those Who Fought and Lived It (New York: Da Capo Press, 1957), 170–71.
76 “sink it to hell.” Stiles, History of the City of Brooklyn, 1:387.
76–77 “Those of us . . . yards’ distance.” Benjamin Tallmadge, Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge (New York: TK, 1858), 10–11.
77 “One of the corporals . . . to [us].” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
77 Details on losses from Onderdone, Revolutionary Incidents, 136. The British tallied, and likely understated, their own losses as follows: “5 officers and 56 non-commissioned officers, and rank and file killed; 12 officers, and 245 non-commissioned officers and rank and file wounded; one officer and 20 grenadiers of the marines taken, by mistaking the enemy for the Hessians. The Hessians had two privates killed, three officers and 23 rank and file wounded.”
Chapter 11: Manhattan
78 “All of a sudden . . . go first.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 34.
78–79 “I have often . . . Connecticut troops.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7–December 31, 1776,” MSA.
79 “Wretches, who, however . . . one Shot.” Smallwood Papers, MHS.
79 “a New England . . . for Cowardice.” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS.
79 “to restore to . . . be hanged.” Papers of George Washington, Library of Congress; 6:171–77.
79 “so vexed at . . . than life.” Flexner, George Washington, 2:123.
80 “Washington expressly sent . . . upon us.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7: December 31, 1776,” MSA, 342.
81 “Come on, boys!” Henry Phelps Johnson, Battle of Harlem Heights (New York, 1897), 55; also Bruce Blizen, The Battle for Manhattan (New York: Holt, 1955), 85–87.
81 Expending most of their ammunition. Knowlton’s men unleashed about eight rounds per man. See Johnson, Battle of Harlem Heights, 155.
81 “The enemy appeared . . . our disgrace.” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:443–45.
82 “Never did troops . . . on them.” September 17, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:370.
82 “The Marylanders, were . . . gave way.” Ibid.
82 “The action was . . . not broke.” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS.
82 “[From] the appearance . . . and wounded.” General Washington to Governour Cooke, letter, September 17, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:367.
83 “striking Sergeant [William] . . . Colonel Silliman.” “Proceedings of a General Court-Martial of the Line, held on the Heights of Harlem, by order of General Washington, for the trial of all prisoners to be brought before them,” Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:467.
83 “I’ll go to . . . damn you.” Ibid.
83 “I drew near . . . a battle.” Anderson, Personal Recollections, 23.
84 “A pardon, a pardon! . . with pleasure.” Ibid., 24.
84 “I would burn . . . to theirs.” Greene to Washington, September 5, 1776, Papers of Nathanael Greene, 1:295.
84 “but was absolutely forbid.” John Hancock to George Washington, September 3, 1776, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, 6:207.
84 “The sick, the aged . . .ever beheld.” Frederick Mackenzie, The Diary of Frederick Mackenzie (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930), 58–60.
84 “I must break . . . fight them.” William Smallwood to the Maryland Convention, letter, October 12, 1776, in Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore, 152.
Chapter 12: When Twenty-Five Men
Held Off an Army
87 Comment about potential mental illness from Phillip Papas, Renegade Revolutionary: The Life of General Charles Lee (New York: New York University Press, 2014).
88 “the British officer . . . no control.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
88 “near two hundred . . . the Doctor.” “Minutes of Council of Safety, October 26, 1776,” MSA, 12:404.
88 “could not from . . . they pleased.” Clinton, The American Rebellion, 45–55.
89 “and asked how . . . British out.” Pension application of John Hughes, NARA.
89 “[I] with Twelve . . . this accident.” Ibid.
89 “The sun shone . . . more advantage.” William Heath, The Revolutionary War Memoirs of Major General William Heath, Sean M. Heuvel, ed. (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2014), 54.
89 “A cannon commenced. . . . our artillery.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
89 “construct a rough . . . across them.” Pension applications of John Hughes and Samuel Smith, NARA.
89 “more than halfway . . . into disorder.” Ward, The War of the Revolution, 264.
90 “The enemy advanced . . . great fury.” “Extract of a letter from White Plains,” Maryland Gazette, October 28, 1776, MSA.
90 “It was a gallant . . . the slope.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
90 “first took the . . . a heap.” Edward G. Lengel, General George Washington: A Military Life (New York: Random House, 2005), 163; “Extract of a letter from White Plains.”
90 “in this Battle . . . the hospital.” Pension application of William Brooks, NARA.
90 “A ball struck . . . Sergeant Westlay.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
90 “[We marched] down . . . militia aforeward.” “Extract of a letter from White Plains.”
90 “fled in confusion . . . scattering fire.” John Haslet to Caesar Rodney, letter, Delaware Historical Society.
91 “very heavy fire . . . an hour.” Ibid.
91 “a soldier of . . . and expired.” Anderson, Personal Recollections, 25.
91 “The Americans overpowered . . . was found.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
91 “about a hundred stragglers, and marched them within the lines.” Smallwood Papers, MHS.
91 “A young . . . satisfied ourselves.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.
91 Details on losses from Gist to Council, November 2, 1776, Archives of Maryland, 12:418.
92 “The rebels had . . . extraordinary tenacity.” Bruce E. Burgoyne, trans., The Diary of Lieutenant Von Bardeleben and Other Von Donop Regiment Documents (Bowie, MD: Heritage Books, 1998), 90.
92 “Since the skirmish . . . much haste.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July–December 1776,” MSA, 12:418.
92 “I being very . . . two weeks.
” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS.
Chapter 13: Fort Washington
93 Note on Williams: He was an officer in the Maryland and Virginia Rifle Regiment, also known as Rawling’s Regiment, a unit of light infantry and riflemen. As the name suggests, both states contributed troops to the unit. They acted as scouts, skirmishers, and forward outposts in front of the main army.
94 “great hopes the enemy was entirely repulsed.” “General Washington to the President of Congress,” November 16, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 3:706.
94 “All that are my grenadiers, march forwards!” Johannes Reuber, Journal, December 25 [26], 1776, in McCullough, 1776, 242.
95 “Commission was stain’d . . . the action.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS. The author has microfilm copies of all of the Williams papers.
95 “Of the Maryland . . . of them.” Samuel Chase to Maryland Council of Safety, letter, November 22, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 3:809.
95 “escaped in a . . . the porch.” After the escape, Everhart quit the infantry and joined the Light Dragoons, mounted infantry led by Washington’s nephew, the indomitable William Washington. Pension application of Lawrence Everhart, NARA.
95 “Their odd figures . . . our soldiers.” Frederick Mackenzie, Diary of Frederick Mackenzie (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1930), 111–12.
95 “lowered the colours . . . his breeches.” One of the lucky prisoners, Atkinson escaped confinement in New York City. He was placed “in a sugar house, and then in a vessel of war, that he was soon after taken sick & removed to the hospital, on his recovery he was compelled to attend on the sick in the hospital and subsequently permitted to go in and out when he pleased, that at length he effected his escape about the month of June (1777).” Pension application of Richard Thomas Atkinson, NARA.
96 Details on captured prisoners from Edwin G. Burrows, Forgotten Patriots: The Untold Story of American Prisoners during the Revolutionary War (New York: Basic Books, 2008), xi.
96 “Among the prisoners . . . for officers.” E. J. Lowell, The Hessians and Other German Auxiliaries of Great Britain in the Revolutionary War (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1884), 64–66.
96–97 “he replied, that . . . his offence.” Osmond Tiffany, A Sketch of the Life and Services of Gen. Otho Holland Williams (Baltimore, MD: John Murphy, 1851), 8.
97 “about sixteen feet . . . loathsome filth.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.
97 “Their health was . . . his imprisonment.” Ibid.
97 “Sunday 17th. Such . . . Deaths multiply.” Henry Steele Commager and Richard Brandon Morris, eds., The Spirit of ’Seventy-Six: The Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants (New York: Harper and Row, 1967), 856–57.
98 “said I should . . . threaten us.” William Sterrett to James McHenry, letter, April 2, 1778, MHS.
98 “much to the . . . to myself.” Burrows, Forgotten Patriots, 108.
98–99 “Ten of us . . . but death.” Pension application of William McMillan, NARA, via Fold3.
99 “with little port-hole . . . external air.” William Dunlap, History of the New Netherlands, Province of New York, and State of New York, to the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, 2 vols. (New York: Carter and Thorp, 1840), 1:136, 141–42.
99 “from Exposure, bad treatment, Cold & Hunger.” Pension application of Elijah Wright, NARA.
99 “that she had . . . always happened.” Pension application of William McMillan, NARA.
99 “murdered a great . . . year 1776.” Elias Boudinot, Journal of the Events in the Revolution (original edition, 1894; reprint, New York: New York Times and Arno Press, 1968), 35–36.
Chapter 14: The Crisis
100 “A thick cloud . . . every countenance,” Archives of Delaware, 3:1358; Ward, Delaware Continentals, 104.
100 “Our army began . . . the Enemy.” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS.
101 “dark, cold, and . . . their blankets.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 125.
101 “No nation ever . . . of tatterdemalions.” Ibid.
101 “Was taken sick . . . of April.” Gassaway Watkins, “An Interesting Personal Record,” The Spirit of ’76, 1 (December 1894):69.
102 “This march being . . . very hard.” Papers of Captain William Beatty, MHS, PAM 10699.
102 “informed him that . . . guard duty.” Papers of Samuel Smith, Columbia University Library.
102 “I can assign . . . and damper.” Ibid.
102 “Even the bones . . . of one.” Maryland Archives Online, 2:1166–67.
103 “[We] are badly . . . their baggage.” “Journal and Correspondence of the Maryland Council of Safety, July 7–December 31, 1776,” MSA.
103 “[I] am much . . . get none.” Captain Hindman to Maryland Council of Safety, letter, October 12, 1776, Peter Force’s American Archives, 5th series, 2:1006.
103 “Let them go . . . ten rebels.” Ewald, Diary of the American War, 30–35.
103 “ending the war . . . needless way.” Ibid.
104 “Two or three . . . to Philadelphia.” William Beatty, Journal, MHS.
105 “[Our] numbers by . . . a few officers.” Samuel Stelle Smith, The Battle of Princeton (Monmouth Beach, NJ: Westholme, 1967; reprint, 2009), 28–30, 34–36.
106 “Colonel Haslet came . . . no shoes.” Anderson, Personal Recollections, 25.
106 “comfortable lodgings in the college.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 131.
107 “We continued on . . . his pioneers.” Anderson, Personal Recollections, 28.
107 “the most hellish . . . brother James.” Peale, Autobiography, 50.
107 Note on size of battalion: The regiment was now down to 5 officers, 19 NCOs, and 139 enlisted men. Charles H. Lesser, The Sinews of Independence: Monthly Strength Reports of the Continental Army (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976), 40, 43.
107–8 “Entre nous, a certain . . . are lost.” Lee to Gates, December 13, 1776, American Archives, Northern Illinois University Libraries Digital Collections and Collaborative Projects.
108 “I ordered my . . . they could.” McCullough, 1776, 265.
108 “he trusted he . . . a gentleman.” Ibid., 275.
109 “the greatest coolness . . . not killed.” Friedrich von Münchhausen, At General Howe’s Side, 1776–1778: The Diary of General William Howe’s Aide-de-Camp, Captain Friedrich von Muenchhausen, Ernest Kipping, trans. (Monmouth Beach, NJ: Philip Freneau, 1974), 6.
109 “It became clearly . . . and peacefully.” Ewald, Diary of the American War, 17–25.
109 “General Howe appeared . . . his escape.” Charles Stedman, The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War, 2 vols. (London: J. Murray et al., 1794).
109 “scattered through the . . . ragged condition.” Horace Wells Sellers, “Charles Willson Peale, Artist-Soldier,” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 38, no. 3 (1914):257–87.
109 “All the plantations . . . declared booty.” Ewald, Diary of the American War, 30–35.
110 “These are the . . . and women.” Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis,” December 23, 1776.
110 “flew like wildfire . . . the counties.” George Otto Trevelyan, The American Revolution, pt. 2 (New York and London: Longmans, Green, 1898–1926), 2:81.
110 “people began to . . . it quickly,” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 142
111 “I think the game is pretty near up.” Chernow, Washington: A Life, no page number.
Chapter 15: Victory or Death—
The Gamble at Trenton
112 “not to suffer . . . attempts either.” George Washington, General Orders, December 25, 1776, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, 7:436.
112 “I was struck . . . ‘or Death.’” Benjamin Rush, T
he Autobiography of Benjamin Rush: His ‘Travels through Life’ Together with His Commonplace Book for 1789–1813, George W. Corner, ed. (Princeton, NJ: American Philosophical Society, 1948), 124.
112 Details on Hessians from Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 396.
113 “I have not . . . the bayonet.” “The Affair at Trenton, Finding of Hessian Court Martial, Colonel’s Report,” Lidgerwood Transcripts, Morristown National Historical Park Library; and Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 196.
113 “not to be troubled . . . manage it.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 203.
113–14 “our General halted . . . our beloved.” Pension application of Henry Wells (Wales), NARA.
114 “but thinly clad . . . extremely cold.” Pension application of John Boudy (Bondy, Bodray), NARA.
114 “greatest fatigue”; “breaking a passage.” George Washington to T. Cadwalader, December 26, 1776, Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, 7:450.
115 “Many of our . . . broken shoes.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 121.
115 “Our Army was destitute of shoes and clothing — . . . It was snowing at this time and the night was unusually stormy. Several of our men froze to death.” Pension application of John Boudy (Bondy, Bodray), NARA.
115 “Soldiers, keep by . . . your officers!” Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 212.
115 “Tell General Sullivan . . . take Trenton.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 122.
115 “Press on! Press on, boys!” Ibid.
115 “Der Feind! Heraus! Heraus!” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 240.
116 “These are the times that try men’s souls!” Thomas Paine, “The American Crisis,” December 23, 1776.
116 “All who are my grenadiers forward!” Johannes Reuber, Journal, December 25–26, 1776, in Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 246.
116 “Here succeeded a . . . saw before.” Henry Knox to Lucy Flucker Knox, December 28, 1776, quoted in William S. Stryker, The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (Boston, 1898), 371; and in Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 248.
116 “My blood chill’d . . . to bear.” Joseph White, A Narrative of Events, as They Occurred from Time to Time, in the Revolutionary War, with an Account of the Battles of Trenton, Trenton-Bridge, and Princeton (Charlestown, MA: 1833), 77, quoted in Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 248.
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