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CHAP. officers to remain six weeks longer. Men of standing and influence were sent abroad to rouse the militia of New 1776. Jersey to avenge the outrages inflicted upon the people by the Hessians. Matters began to wear a brighter aspect, and hope and enthusiasm were revived.

At this crisis, Washington received the highest mark of confidence in the gift of the people-Congress invested him with unlimited military authority for six months. The letter of the committee which conveyed to him this resolution closed with these words: "Happy is it for this country that the general of their forces can safely be intrusted with the most unlimited power, and neither personal security, liberty, nor property be in the least endangered thereby.".

Nothing could exceed the astonishment of Howe when he learned that his Hessians, veterans in war, had fled before the militia. Cornwallis was hurried back to resume his command in the Jerseys.

Washington, anxious to ascertain the movements and designs of the enemy, sent forward Colonel Reed, who was well acquainted with the country, to reconnoitre. With Reed were six young horsemen, members of the "Philadelphia City Troop," full of fire and zeal, but who had never seen active service. No reward could induce the terror-stricken people to approach Princeton and bring them information. Nothing daunted, the party dashed on till they were in view of the top of the college building, when they observed a British dragoon passing from a barn to a farm-house. Supposing him to be a marauder, they determined to capture him, and obtain the desired information. Presently they saw another, and another. They charged at once and surrounded the house, "and twelve dragoons, well armed, with their pieces loaded, and hav

BOTH ARMIES ON THE BANKS OF ASSUNPINK CREEK

397

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ing the advantage of the house, surrendered to seven CHAP. horsemen, six of whom had never seen an enemy before, and, almost in sight of the British army, were brought 1776. into the American camp at Trenton, on the same evening." The sergeant of the dragoons alone escaped. The information obtained from these prisoners was most important. Cornwallis, with a body of picked troops, had joined Colonel Grant the day before at Princeton, and they were ready to march the next day upon Trenton, with a strong force of seven or eight thousand men.

In anticipation of an attack, Washington arranged his men, in number about six thousand, in a favorable position on the east bank of Assunpink creek. As the enemy approached, on the second of January, their advance was harassed, and so effectually held in check, by forces sent forward under General Greene and Colonel Hand, that they did not reach Trenton till near sunset. The fords and bridge over the creek were carefully guarded and defended by the American batteries. Cornwallis made repeated attempts to cross, but was as often repulsed; at each repulse a shout ran along the American lines.. Thinking that the struggle might be a desperate one, the British commander concluded to defer it till the next day, and retired with the boast that he would "bag the fox in the morning." Both armies kindled their camp-fires, and once more they rested in sight of each other.

Never had the prospect of the Americans been so gloomy. The officers gathered at the quarters of General Mercer to hold a council of war; to retreat was impossible; behind them was the Delaware, filled with floating ice. Who could propose an expedient that would relieve them from the present dilemma ? Such an expedient, one of the boldest and best conceived of the whole war,

J Life of Colonel Reed, p. 369.

Jan.

2.

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He

CHAP. had crossed the mind of the Commander-in-chief. judged that the main division of the British forces was 1777. with Cornwallis; that Princeton and Brunswick, where their stores were deposited, could be but imperfectly guarded. He proposed to march by a circuitous and obscure road, around the left flank of the enemy, to Princeton, capture the forces there, and then push on and seize the stores at Brunswick. The plan was accepted at once, and the officers entered into it with alacrity. The stores were sent down the river to Burlington, and various stratagems were resorted to to deceive the enemy. Small parties were left behind, some to be noisily employed in digging trenches within hearing of their sentinels; others to relieve the guards and replenish the camp-fires, and preserve all the appearance of a regular encampment; at daylight these were to hasten after the army.

3.

About midnight the Americans began their silent march. The road over which they moved was new and rough, and at sunrise they were still three miles from Princeton. Here they halted, and formed into two divisions, one of which, under Washington, was to proceed by a cross-cut to the town, while the other, under General Mercer, was to gain the main road, and destroy the bridge, when they had passed over, to prevent the approach of Cornwallis.

Three British regiments had passed the night at Princeton, and two of them were already on their march to join the forces at Trenton. Colonel Mawhood, commander of the foremost, when about two miles from the town, caught sight of Mercer's division. Believing it a party of Americans who had been driven from Trenton, he sent back a messenger to Princeton to hurry on the other regiments, that they might surround them, and cut off their retreat. Presently Mercer espied the British, and now both parties rushed to gain a favorable position on a rising ground. The Americans were successful, and with

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their rifles opened a severe fire upon the enemy, who re- CHAP. turned it vigorously. Almost at the first fire Mercer's horse was shot under him, and the second officer in com- 1777. mand fell mortally wounded. The enemy took advantage of the confusion that followed the fall of the leaders, and rushed on with the bayonet. The Americans, who were without bayonets, unable to withstand the charge, gave way. As Mercer, now on foot, endeavored to rally them, he was struck down, bayoneted, and left on the field apparently dead.

As his men retreated in confusion, a body of Pennsylvania militia, which Washington had sent to their aid, appeared in sight. Mawhood instantly checked his pursuit of the fugitives, and opened upon these fresh troops a heavy fire of artillery, which brought them to a stand.

Convinced by the continued firing that the conflict was serious, Washington spurred on in advance of his, division, and just at this crisis had reached a rising ground near by, from which he witnessed the scene. He saw the scattered forces of Mercer, the hesitation of the militia; every thing was at stake. He dashed forward in the face of Mawhood's artillery, exposed both to the fire of the enemy and the random shots of his own soldiers, and waving his hat called upon the faltering and broken forces to follow him. Inspired by his voice and example, they rallied at once and returned to the charge. At this moment a Virginia regiment emerged from a neighboring wood, and with loud cheers engaged in the conflict; while the American artillery, now within range, began to shower grape-shot upon the enemy. The fight was desperate, but the field was won. Mawhood, who, a few minutes before, had felt certain of victory, now with great difficulty forced his way back to the main road, and retreated with all haste toward Trenton.

The second regiment was attacked by the brigade under St. Clair; broken and scattered, it fled across the

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CHAP. fields towards New Brunswick. Alarmed at the general rout, a part of the third regiment fled in the same direc1777. tion, while another portion took refuge in the college building. The American artillery was immediately brought to bear upon it, and they soon surrendered.

The British loss in this battle was about one hundred slain, and three hundred prisoners, while the Americans lost but few; among these was the brave Colonel Haslet. Mercer, who was left on the field for dead, was after the battle discovered by Colonel Armstrong, still alive, but suffering greatly from his wounds, and exposure to the cold. He was borne to a neighboring farm-house, where, after a few days, he expired. As a soldier, he was brave; as a man of sterling merit, he was worthy the respect of his adopted countrymen, for, like Montgomery, he was of foreign birth, and like him, he has won an honorable name among the heroes of the Revolution.

Washington, eager to secure the stores so necessary for his army, pushed on some distance toward Brunswick. A little reflection convinced him that his troops, in their exhausted condition, could not reach there before they would be overtaken. They had been a night and a day without rest; they were thinly clad, and some of them were barefoot. He stopped and held a consultation with his officers on horseback. They decided that it was injudicious to proceed. Grieved and disappointed, that they were unable to reap the advantage of their recent success, they turned their steps toward Morristown.

When morning revealed to the enemy on the banks of the Assunpink the deserted camp of the Americans, Cornwallis was greatly at a loss to divine to what covert the "fox" had fled. Soon the booming of cannon at Princeton gave him the desired information His thoughts turned at once to the stores at Brunswick: he must save