The Angel of 1776 - A Novella Read online

  After the defeat of the American forces in Manhattan, General Charles Lee broke contact with the enemy and withdrew his division to the British flank near Morristown, New Jersey, while Gates moved into the Hudson Valley, leaving Washington’s division alone to fight on against the army of Lord Cornwallis.

  Once again, Howe had expected a quick victory against the isolated Washington. But in December, Washington crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania, taking all the boats on the Jersey Shore with him. A disgusted Howe recalled Cornwallis, established his lavish winter quarters in New York with his beautiful young mistress, and left his Hessian mercenaries with a handful of British regulars in New Jersey to watch the pesky Americans until the Delaware froze solid.

  As Howe had told Betsey Loring, when the ice was thick enough to support horses, wagons and caissons, he planned to cross the river with twenty-thousand men and a hundred cannon to crush Mister Washington and his rag-tag army, once and for all.

  ~ 6 ~

  In mid December, when Washington’s remaining army had reached the Pennsylvania shore, he had assembled his senior officers at the home of Thomas Barclay, where he was establishing his headquarters. “Gentlemen. Thanks to all of you, and in particular to Colonel Glover and his Marblehead fishermen, we are safe for the moment.” He looked around the table. “Now, will someone please tell me the whereabouts of the divisions and persons of Generals Charles Lee and Horatio Gates? They had agreed to meet us here. We are here. Where are they?”

  Colonel Glover raised his hand but Lord Stirling spoke up before Washington could acknowledge him. “You cannot seriously expect either of them to live up to that agreement, General Washington. Both Lee and Gates want to be commander-in-chief in your stead and there will never be a better time than now to lobby Congress for the position.”

  Washington nodded. “If that is so, where would they be, my good Lord Stirling?”

  Stirling looked perplexed. “I cannot say for a fact but my guess would be that they are marching their divisions toward Philadelphia.”

  Again, Washington nodded. “I agree.” He put a letter on the table and pushed it toward Stirling. “This may thwart their plans.”

  Stirling took the letter and began reading.

  “Congress has decided that it would be safer for them to evacuate from Philadelphia and reconvene in Baltimore,” Washington explained to the others. “Before fleeing, our Congressional leadership also saw fit to give me nearly unlimited, dictatorial power. I now intend to use that power.”

  “Congress is anticipating the collapse of the Revolution and they are making you their scapegoat, sir,” Greene warned. “Since you now have all this new power, you will be held responsible for every act of the United States that the British may call treasonous.”

  “At this moment I am very glad to have the power and am not troubled by the motives that prompted the Congress to give it to me,” Washington replied. “But after we have won this war we will certainly see to it that Congress never again cedes authority to the military.” He was watching Lord Stirling read the letter. “The civilian government must always be in control, even when martial law is necessary. Separation of power must be a cornerstone of our nation.”

  Feeling the scrutiny, Stirling looked up. “Is there something you want me to do, General?”

  “Yes, there is,” Washington answered. “I want you to take a hand-picked battalion, find General Lee and General Gates, show them that letter and then bring them here.”

  Stirling sat back in his chair. “And if they refuse to come with me?”

  “Arrest them and bring them and their troops here. If they resist arrest, detail a firing squad and have them shot.” He waited for a reaction but when the others remained silent, continued. “I will, of course, put that order in writing. Can you do that, Lord Stirling?”

  “Yes, sir.” Stirling folded the letter and put it in his coat pocket. “I can and I will.”

  Washington looked at the others. “Comments?”

  “Sir.” Colonel Glover raised his hand again.

  “Yes, Glover?” Washington said.

  “This morning a local fisherman told me that General Lee is a prisoner of the British,” Glover replied.

  “A voluntary prisoner bargaining secrets for favors, I wager,” General Greene grumbled.

  Glover nodded. “That is entirely possible. It seems that General Lee inexplicably left his camp on the evening of the twelfth to spend the night alone at a tavern several miles away. He was captured by British Cavalry the following morning without a single shot being fired.”

  “He must have heard that Congress was running away,” Greene chuckled.

  “Who now has command of Lee’s division?” Washington asked.

  Glover shook his head. “The fellow I talked to this morning told me who was in command, but I fear that I have forgotten the name.”

  “General John Sullivan is General Lee’s second in command,” Hamilton offered.

  “Yes, thank you, Sullivan is the name I was told.” Glover nodded thanks at Hamilton.

  General Greene was obviously very pleased. “That is excellent news for us, General Washington. Sullivan is a fine officer who will follow your orders without question.”

  “If that is so, where is he now?” Washington asked.

  “He is probably on his way to Philadelphia with General Gates, sir,” Hamilton suggested. “It is unlikely that General Lee would not have told him of your orders to meet us here.”

  “True.” Washington turned back to Stirling. “While you are about it, sir, please locate General Sullivan and bring him and his division back here with Gates and his troops.”

  “Yes, sir. I will leave for Philadelphia in the morning.”

  The following day, General Stirling found General Lee’s former division, now commanded by General Sullivan, encamped with the division of General Gates, not far from Philadelphia.

  Sullivan told Lord Stirling that he had attached his division to Gates because Lee had told him that those were the division’s orders from Washington. When Lord Stirling explained Washington’s actual plan to rejoin the three divisions on the Delaware River and mount an offensive, Sullivan enthusiastically agreed to return with Stirling to Washington’s camp.

  General Gates, however, balked angrily – claiming that he had been summoned to Philadelphia by the Congress. However, when Stirling informed him that Congress had evacuated from Philadelphia to Baltimore, and showed him the letter that granted Washington unlimited authority, Gates had no choice but to give in and march his division to join Washington.

  Upon arriving in Washington’s Delaware River camp, General Gates flatly refused to participate in the proposed Christmas Day crossing, insulted Washington as well as all the other commanders, and threatened to withdraw his army from Washington’s command. Washington responded by relieving Gates and having him escorted back to Philadelphia under armed guard. Several days later Gates reported to Congress in Baltimore that he had voluntarily relinquished his command because of illness. Washington, who had no time for politics, did not contradict Gates’s account.

  ~ 7 ~

  Christmas, 1776

  McKonkey’s Tavern, Pennsylvania

  “Can you tell us where Colonel Rall is quartered, Billy?” General Lord Stirling asked.

  Drummer Billy Schmitt was enjoying the attention but his hands, face and feet burned as if they were on fire. “Yes, sir. Here.” Billy touched a tiny darkened square on the big map of Trenton that had been placed on the table. “The house belongs to Mr. Stacy Potts. He is a merchant and, I think, a supporter of independence. He is cordial to Colonel Rall, but it may be an act.”

  “An act it is,” Mister Brown confirmed. “Potts is no Tory.”

  General Washington had been watching the boy closely. “Tell us about your angel, please, Billy.”

  Billy looked surprised at the abrupt and unexpected change of subject. “Very well, sir. What do you wish to know?”

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p; “Well, to start with,” Washington clasped his hands behind his back. “What does your angel look like?”

  “My angel has the face of a beautiful woman and the figure of a man.”

  “Go on,” Washington urged. “Tell us more.”

  “It carries a great sword and speaks in a tongue that I do not know but can somehow understand.”

  Washington looked at his awe-struck officers and decided that further discussion of angels on Christmas might be a mistake – particularly on the eve of a major battle. Faith and the belief in divine protection were powerful allies on the battlefield. Instead, he decided to test the quality of the boy’s information and pointed at the map. “Can you tell us which house is accommodating General von Donop, Billy?”

  Stirling tensed. From reports of the New Jersey Militia, Washington knew full well that von Donop was in Mount Holly.

  “General von Donop is not in Trenton, sir,” Billy replied.

  “Are you quite sure?” Washington asked, raising his eyebrows in doubt.

  “But I overheard some Hessian soldiers saying that he is at Mount Holly. I cannot confirm that fact, but I am very certain that he is not in Trenton, sir.”

  Washington glanced at Stirling. “What else did these soldiers have to say about von Donop, Billy?”

  “They said that General von Donop hates Colonel Rall, but that he was forced to put Colonel Rall in command of Trenton because all the other high-ranking officers are sick.”

  “Yes,” Washington said with a nod and a smile to a rather smug-looking Lord Stirling. “We have also heard that rumor, and quite recently.”

  “The men who do not know Colonel Rall do not like him,” Billy added. “I think that perhaps General von Donop’s low opinion of Colonel Rall has influenced them because those who do know him speak of him as a fine man.”

  Lord Stirling tapped the map. “What kind of fortifications have they built, Billy?”

  “None, sir. General von Donop ordered Colonel Rall to fortify the town, but Colonel Rall does not believe that Trenton is defensible.”

  “Now that,” Washington said, “is very interesting.”

  “We had heard that Rall refused to build fortifications because he does not believe that we will attack,” Stirling said.”

  “That may also be true, sir,” Billy replied, “but it was not what I heard.”

  “So there are no fortifications anywhere?” Henry Knox asked. “Not even to protect their artillery?”

  “They have thrown up a small earthwork to protect their ammunition depot and their cannon, but nothing else,” Billy said.

  “What do the Hessian soldiers think about all that?” General Greene asked.

  “They seem to think that Trenton is their winter quarters,” Billy replied. “They spend much of their time drinking, gossiping, gambling and flirting with the pretty girls.”

  “Do they have any luck with the girls?” Fitzgerald asked.

  “No, sir. The citizens, even the Tory sympathizers, resent the Hessians.”

  “Your lady friends are all true to you, Fitz,” Hamilton teased. “Until they discover each other, that is.”

  Stirling smiled. “What of Colonels Knyphausen and Lossberg, Billy? Do you know where they are headquartered?”

  “Yes, sir.” Billy tapped the map. “Colonel Knyphausen is living here and Colonel Lossberg is living here. I was unable to learn the names of the families that own the two houses. There are many Loyalists in the town and asking too many questions could have exposed me as a stranger to Trenton.”

  “Where are the pickets closest to the river?”

  “At the bridge.” Billy studied the map, then pointed to a spot where a road crossed the creek. “They do not stay at their post but shelter in this little house. They only return to the bridge if the sergeant of the guard or an officer is coming to inspect. I crossed the bridge twice without being challenged.”

  “Nothing closer than the bridge?” Washington asked in surprise.

  Billy shook his head. “No, sir. Not since last week when General Ewing raided Trenton Ferry Landing. When General Ewing burned all the houses at the Landing it denied the Hessians any shelter from the cold along the shore.”

  “We have done what we could to depress their morale,” Brigadier General James Ewing chuckled.

  “Do you know what the word morale means, Billy?” Stirling asked.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “How would you describe the Hessian morale, overall?”

  Billy considered the question for a moment before answering. “The Hessian soldiers are as weary as we are, sir. Perhaps even more so. Colonel Rall’s regiment suffered many casualties during the assault on Fort Washington.”

  “Not enough,” Washington said vehemently.

  “The most in the entire British Army,” Stirling countered.

  “I have no sympathy for the bloody Hessians after they slaughtered our surrendering men without mercy,” Washington said with venom.

  “Go on, Billy,” Stirling urged. “You were speaking of Hessian casualties and how it affects their morale.”

  Billy nodded. “According to what I overheard, the Hessian regiments have lost many comrades while pursuing us from New York. Most of the rankers are conscripts and none are truly faithful to the British. They often discuss deserting to join the Revolution. I think many may have deserted during the march from New York.”

  “None have volunteered to join us,” Washington said.

  “Perhaps they know how much you hate them, General,” Stirling suggested.

  “I do not hate them,” Washington said. Then he shook his head. “Yes I do. I know that I should not, but I do.”

  The conversation continued for some time, while Washington kept a close watch on the clock and on the steadily deteriorating weather. Most of what Billy related was already known to him, but Billy’s confirmation of their existing intelligence was a welcome confidence booster. He knew, without a shadow of doubt, that the fate of this new nation would pivot on the next twenty-four hours. His decisions hung over him like the Sword of Damocles.

  At 3:45 PM, Washington nodded to General Ewing, and Ewing immediately interrupted the dialog. “If you will be so good as to excuse me, gentlemen. It is time to go over and join General Stephen so we can further damage Hessian morale. My men are in the boats waiting for me.”

  Washington shook Ewing’s hand. “God speed and good luck.”

  “And to all of you.” Ewing shook hands all around. “I will see you on the other side.”

  Washington waited until Ewing had left the tavern and then he smiled down at Billy. “Thank you, Drummer Schmitt. You have been very helpful. Your country is indebted to you for your courage and acumen.”

  “Does that mean I can join the crossing, General?” Billy asked excitedly.

  Washington started to deny the boy but then turned to Hugh Mercer. “You are the doctor. The decision is yours.”

  “Goody Brown has found him mittens, stockings, water-repellent moccasins and a scarf,” Mercer replied. “If we wrap him in a blanket, Billy should be fine.”

  “I gather that he will be with your brigade,” Washington said in a dry tone.

  Mercer glanced at Lord Stirling for approval. When Stirling nodded he said, “Billy will be with me, General. I will watch over him like his famous guardian angel.”

  ~ 8 ~

  Christmas Night, 1776

  Trenton, New Jersey

  At 5:00 PM, Colonel Johann Gottlieb Rall was playing checkers with Stacy Potts, the owner of the house in which Rall was headquartered, when he heard musket fire. He called for his horse, and with a small entourage, was soon at the outpost on the northeast edge of town where they found two pickets dead and two wounded. Rall gave orders to care for the wounded and for the outpost to be reinforced to six. Although he did not share his thoughts with his officers, Rall was relieved. The American raid had done little damage, and it proved that the rumors of a major attack in force were false.
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  At 5:30 PM, as Ewing’s raiders were nearing the Pennsylvania shore to join Stephen’s troops and Colonel Rall was eating Christmas dinner at the Green Tree Tavern, Colonel Glover began loading the first wave of troops into the Durham boats.

  At 7:00 PM, while playing cards at the residence of Abraham Hunt, a Tory farmer passed Rall a note warning of an imminent, full-scale attack by the Americans. Rall had already decided that such an attack was unlikely. Now, with the plummeting temperature, a major attack was impossible; it was simply too cold and wet for muskets to fire. He put the note in his coat pocket and raised his bet.

  At 1:00 AM, as the Americans were establishing a defensive perimeter a short distance from his headquarters, Rall went to bed.

  At 4:00 AM, the duty officer, Major Friedrich von Dechow stepped outside into the fearful cold and promptly cancelled the pre-dawn patrol.

  At 4:30 AM, Lieutenant Andreas von Wiederholdt, in command of a twenty-four-man roving guard, ordered the men in his detail to take shelter from the bitter cold in the copper shop while he and his two officers demanded entry into the shopkeeper’s home.

  ~ 9 ~

  Dawn

  December 26, 1776