a voice tremulous yet kindly, Washington exclaimed, "Poor fellows;" then giving rein to his charger, rode away. During this touching interview, every eye was bent upon the chief, every ear was attentive to catch his words; and when those words reached the soldiers, warm from the heart of their beloved commander, and in tones of sorrow and commiseration for their sufferings, a grateful but subdued expression burst from every lip, of "God bless your excellency, your poor soldiers' friend." In this interesting event in the life and actions of Washington, he appears in a new light. He is no longer the grave, the dignified, the awe-inspiring and unapproachable general-in-chief of the armies of his country. All these characteristics have vanished, and the Pater Patriæ appears amid his companions in arms, in all his moral grandeur, giving vent to his native goodness of heart.* * Doctor Gordon, the earliest historian of the war, says, that "while at Washington's table, in 1784, the chief informed him that bloody foot-prints were everywhere visible in the course of their march of nineteen miles from Whitemarsh to Valley Forge." The commissary and quartermaster's department had been so much deranged by the interference of Congress and the neglect of officers, that while there was an ample supply of shoes, which had been provided for the army, they were not where they should have been when wanted. Gordon asserts, on good authority, that at that very time, "hogsheads of shoes, stockings, and clothing, were lying at different places on the roads, and in the woods, perishing for want of teams, or of money to pay the teamsters." CHAPTER V. THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH.* APPROACH OF THE AMERICANS TOWARD MONMOUTH COURTHOUSE-DECISION OF A COUNCIL OF WAR-WASHINGTON ASSUMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY-HE DETERMINES TO FIGHT THE ENEMY-NOTICE OF JEFFERSON'S OPINION OF WASHINGTON-WASHINGTON MEETS THE FLYING AMERICAN ARMY-ANECDOTE OF COLONEL HAMILTON - WASHINGTON RESTORES THE FORTUNES OF THE DAY-HIS HORSES - LAFAYETTE'S ACCOUNT OF WASHINGTON'S APPEARANCE-DEATH OF COLONEL MONCKTON CAPTAIN FAUNTLEROY - PROPOSED MEMORIAL TO WASHINGTON CONCERNING EXPOSURE OF HIMSELF IN BATTLE-REMARKS OF DocTOR CRAIK-THE INDIAN PROPHECY-BARON STEUBEN- THE VALETS CANNONADED CAPTAIN MOLLY-WASHINGTON ON THE NIGHT OF THE BATTLE-RETREAT OF THE BRITISHI -VOTE OF THANKS BY THE CONGRESS. - THE Commander-in-chief having completed his arrangements for bringing the enemy to a general action, proceeded slowly toward Monmouth courthouse, early on the morning of the twenty-eighth of June, 1778.† *Published in the National Intelligencer, February 22, 1840. † Toward the close of May, 1778, General Sir Henry Clinton succeeded General Sir William Howe in the command of the British forces in America. Perceiving the dangers to be apprehended from the co-operation of a French fleet under Count D'Estaing, with the republican armies, Sir Henry determined to concentrate his forces at New York, the most eligible point for acting efficiently against the "rebels." Accordingly, on the eighteenth of June, he evacuated Philadelphia, pursuant to an order of the British ministry. His whole army crossed the Delaware, into New Jersey, eleven thousand strong, with an immense baggage and provision train, and marched for New York by way of New Brunswick and Amboy. Washington, meanwhile, had been led to suspect some movement of this kind, and was on the alert. He broke up his encampment at Valley Forge, and moved toward the Delaware, and when he ascertained that Clinton had passed over into New Jersey, he crossed also, at a point some distance above Philadelphia, and commenced a series of manœuvres to compel Clinton to change his course in the direction of Sandy Hook. This he effected, having with him a force equal to the enemy, and Sir Henry marched toward Monmouth courthouse. In the council of war there were but two voices for risking a general engagement, Cadwalader,* a gallant fellow, and devoted in his attachment to the chief, and Anthony Wayne, who always said aye when fighting was to be had on any terms.† Washington certainly assumed a great responsibility in risking an engagement, contrary to the opinions of a large majority of his generals, and notwithstanding the vast disparity of his forces when compared with those of his adversary-the disparity consisting more in the materiel of which the respective armies was composed than in their numerical estimates. But it is to be remembered General John Cadwalader. He was a native of Philadelphia, and in 1775, was a member of the Pennsylvania convention. He entered the army, and was appointed brigadier by Congress in February, 1777, and also in 1778, as commander of cavalry, but declined the appointment on both occasions. He participated in the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth. On the fourth of July, 1778, he fought a duel with General Conway, the quarrel which led to it growing out of the intrigue of that officer with Gates and others against Washington. Conway was badly, but not mortally, wounded. Cadwalader removed to Maryland after the war, and became a member of its state legislature. He died on the tenth of February, 1786, aged forty-three years. He was a gentleman of large fortune, and dispensed its blessings with a liberal hand. Many of his descendants yet reside in Philadelphia and vicinity. † Washington held a council of war at Valley Forge, on the seventeenth of June, when a proposition was submitted, whether it would be advisable, in case an opportunity offered, to hazard a general engagement with the enemy, in New Jersey The decision was a negative; but it was recommended to send out detachments to harass the enemy. Of the nine general officers in that council, only four (not two only, as asserted by the author of the Recollections) were in favor of a general engagement. These were the chief's four best officers - Greene, Lafayette, Wayne, and Cadwalader. At Hopewell, in New Jersey, he called another council, submitted a similar question, and obtained the same result. Cadwalader was not present; Greene, Lafayette, and Wayne, adhered to their former opinion. General Lee, who had lately been exchanged for Prescott, and had joined the army as Washington's second in command, opposed the measure with warmth, as before. At first, Washington was embarrassed by their divided opinions; but, relying upon his own judgment, which was strongly in favor of an engagement, he asked no further advice, and proceeded to make arrangements for battle. that the two principal actions of the grand army in the preceding campaign, though bravely contested, had resulted unfortunately.* Since the close of the campaign of '77, an alliance had been formed with France, whose fleets and armies were hourly expected on our coasts, while the demands of the people, and those often loudly expressed, were for battles. Urged by these considerations, the American chief determined, happen what would, to fight Sir Henry Clinton, so that he should not evacuate Philadelphia, and reach his stronghold in New York unscathed. Crossing the Delaware, the American approached his formidable foe, who, trusting in his superiority of numbers, discipline, and appointment, was leisurely wending his way toward Staten Island, the place of embarkation for New York. As a soldier, Washington was by nature the very soul of enterprise; but, fortunately for his fame and for his country, this daring spirit was tempered by a judgment and prudence the most happy in their characters and effects. And yet an illustrious patriot and statesman of the Revolution, and most accomplished writer (Mr. Jefferson), has said that the Pater Patria was rather the Fabius than the Marcellus of war, his extreme caution fitting him better for the cool and methodical operations of sieges than for the daring strategy of surprise, or the * Brandywine and Germantown. †The first movement of the French government, in compliance with the provisions of the treaty of friendship and alliance made with the Americans, was to despatch a squadron, consisting of twelve ships of the line and four large frigates, under Count D'Estaing, to blockade the British fleet in the Delaware. Fortunately for Admiral Howe, he received from the British ministry timely notice of the fitting out of this armament, and left the Delaware in time to escape the blockade, and took post, with his fleet, in the bay between Staten Island and Sandy Hook. D'Estaing arrived off the capes of the Delaware, on the eighth of July, 1778. close and stubborn conflict of the field. Never was there such a misconception of a great soldier's attributes. *The following interesting sketch of the character of Washington was drawn by the pen of Jefferson, at Monticello, his seat in Virginia, on the second of January, 1814, in a letter to Doctor Walter Jones of Virginia, who had written an able letter to the venerable statesman, on parties in the United States, and proposed to prepare another. In his letter, Doctor Jones had expressed some doubt concerning Washington as a topic, to which Jefferson replied, as follows: "You say that in taking General Washington on your shoulders, to bear him harmless through the federal coalition, you encounter a perilous topic. I do not think so; you have given the genuine history of the course of his mind through the trying scenes in which it was engaged, and of the seductions by which it was deceived, but not depraved. I think I knew General Washington intimately and thoroughly; and were I called on to delineate his character, it should be in terms like these. "His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order; his penetration strong, though not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke; and as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers, of the advantage he derived from councils of war, where hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best; and certainly no general ever planned his battles more judiciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden circumstances, he was slow in re-adjustment. The consequence was that he often failed in the field, and rarely against an enemy in station, as at Boston and York. He was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest unconcern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence, never acting until every circumstance, every consideration was maturely weighed; refraining if he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going through with his purpose whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. He was indeed, in every sense of the word, a wise, a good, and a great man. His temper was naturally irritable and high-toned; but reflection and resolution had obtained a firm and habitual ascendency over it. If ever, however, it broke its bonds, he was most tremendous in his wrath. In his expenses he was honorable, but exact; liberal in contributions to whatever promised utility; but frowning and unyielding on all visionary projects and all unworthy calls on his charity. His heart was not warm in its affections; but he exactly calculated every man's value, and gave him a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know, was fine, his stature exactly what one would wish, his deportment easy, erect, and noble; the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback. Although, in the circle of his friends, where he might be unreserved with safety, he took a free share in conversation, his colloquial talents were not above |