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Show The TheM Masterof terofCh ChaQ / . By Irvh Brvfns Irving g BacheIEer Baclieller Bacbeller BacbellerCopyright BacheIEerCopyright Copyright Ill's Ills U3 193 % : ' by b > ) Irvjpf IrvFIr rrvpg D&cholJor DcholJor BsChalrar BsChalrarWNU D&cholJorWNU DacliollorWNTJ & WNU Servl ServlcoCHAPTER Service Servlco ! : . , ' . CHAPTER XII-Continued XII Continued XIIContinued16 XII - Continued -16- 16 - 16They 16They 16 16They - - Theyere They \ were \\ere ere rud rutldv rudely ( > lv awakened awahencd on onChrlstmas onChristmas onChristmas Chrlstmas Christmas night bnow Snow now W'1.S W1.S W1S was w ' . < is falling fallingIn fallingIn fallingIn In a bitter northwest north\\'st north 'st st \ \ ( ' wind It wna was no notime notime notime time for ani any an ) ; sane cane person [ ( crson Icrson ) to be out of ofdoors ofdoors ofdoors doors Colonel Rill H111 Rall , . In command at atTrcnton atTrenton atTrenton Trcnton Trenton had had a mcrr mcrri merry ) dinner nnd and nndwith andwith andwith with other olhcers ofJlcere otlicers ; and th their ( > ir ladipb ludlE ladies ' was wasdancing \ ttiisdancing IlS IlSdancing dancing In the public pUhllc hill h111 hall The fid Lid fiddlers Liddlers fiddicrs dlers were placing plalng playing ) Between dunc dances dancesthey dancesthey ( > s sthey they could hear henr bear the cold \ nind wind Ind In the thechimney thechimney thechimney chimney top and snow pcltin pe1Ung pelting ? ' the win windowpanec ft \ In Indow Indowpanes dow dowpanec panee : What Whut a night 1 ! Ihov 7hev 1 he'v hev ' shiv spiv shivered spiverect shivered ered erect and und gitlicred g1thered gathered before hefore t\1 t 1 the \ ( > hrepllce hrepllceand lircpl tmrepl ice iceand iceand and nilod filled tilled and dnined dr\lned dr lned drained ' \ th their ( > ir glasses glassesagain : ; gl-zi-sesagain gl zi sesagain Ises Isesagain % - - again . Itas It \ was \\as as a nieht nlht nibt . ; for joy wlrh with wlrhnothing withnothing withnothing nothing to fear feur About midnight mldmght n a nuniformed auniformed auniformed uniformed lackey lacke lad.e lade . } ) brought broullt . ; a letter to toOoloncl toColonel toColonel Ooloncl Colonel RuBho Rail RuB Itall \ who \\ho ho was In comlU\nd comlU nd connnand comlUndEngaged connnandEngaged conimindEngaged ' \ Engaged in a n pretttorv prem prett\ prett pretty \ "story story ctorv < ; " torv , he put the thelettcr theletter theletter lettcr letter In his hlS has pocLet pocL.et pocket . Ihen Then 1 ' hen In the thewhirl thewhirl thewhirl whirl of gaiety he forgot ItNine ItNine it itNine Nine miles from TI Tienton Trenton enton a lovallst loyalist lovallstwoman loyalistwoman loyalistwoman woman had seen sccn Washington with t\\ t t0 two twohousand twothousand \ 0 bousand housand men crossing .rQsslng rQsslng crgssing < . the tbe Dclaware Delaware Dclawaret1 Delawarei Delawarefc t1 i the darkness She had ridden post posthaste posthaste posthaste haste through the storm with the thewarnIng thewarning thewarning warnIng , now hidden In the pocket pochet of ofColonel ofColonel ofColonel Colonel Rail nail Who but an American Americanwould Americanwould Americanwould would thInL thln1 think . . of crossing croseing ; a II . big river riverfilled riverfilled riverfilled filled Vo with ith broken brol\.en brol.en brol .en en \ . Ice and marcblng marching marcblngnIne marchingnine marchingnine nIne miles with a storm raging In Inwhich Inwhich InWhich which two men were frozen to death deathThe ? Tbe The Europeans Buropeans were to learn that thatfighting thatfighting thatfighting fighting for liberty and flghting fightmg Lighting for forpay forpay forpay pay were a n different dlITerent . kind l.lOd llOd of busmessAt businessAt business busmess businessAt At eight o'clock oclock ' [ in n the morning morningWashington , Washington fell on the citi city cIt ) with t\\ t t0 two tdetnrhmeDts twodetachments twodetachments \ 0 detnrhmeDts detachments Rail's Rails nail's nails flail's flails ' Hessians surren surrendered surrendered surrcndered dered while other enemy troops fied fled fiedIn fledin ( ledIn In panic Tlie The whole British structure structureon on the thc Delaware was shattered bv by this thisstro1.e thisstroke thisstroke stro1.e stro1e stroke . . . General Donop Donops s army re re- retreated retreated retreated - treated General Corn\\ Corn Conimllls Corn'lllls Cornwallis \ 'lllls lllls ' aban abandoned abandoned abandoned doned his plan of going golDg to Europe and andtool andtook andtook tool took . command Inew In New \ew ew \ ew Tersey fersey Wash WashIngton WashIngton WasliIngton Ington occupied TrentonSoon TrentonSoon Trenton TrentonSoon Soon Cornwallls Cornwallis and his men meD c\me c me came cameon cmeon cimeon ' \ on to give him battle On the second secondof secondof secondof of Januir Janu\r3 Janu r3 January ' \ ' , . ' 77 , the American Amcrlcan comwander com com- commander commander - mander wander crossed croseed ; Assanptnk Assanplnk creek nnd and nndmade andmade andmade made a pretense of throwing throwmg up in intrcnchments intrenchments Intrenchments trcnchments trenchments Cornwillis Corm11Is Cornwallis Corm\ Corm \ \11Is 11Is ' \ tried to fol follow follow follow low and was repulsed by artillery artilleryNight artilleryNight artilleryNight Night came and CornwalHs Cornwallfs Cornwallis decided to towalt towait towait walt wait until morning Washington WashingtonsUpped Washingtonslipped Washingtonslipped sUpped slipped away nway In the night mght leaving men mento mento mento to keep the campfires burning and to toImitate toimitate toImitate Imitate the chorus of ot picks , shovels shovelsaxes , axes and aDd 03 ox teams at work worl ivork . At d\V d V day dVUght daylight divlight ' \ Ught light , Cornwallls Cornwallis began to throw his hiscannon hiscannon hiscannou cannon ball ballb balls : , upon empty ground He lie Heattached lieattacked Heattacked attached attacked nothing The American c'1.mp c1.mp c1mp camp campwas c'1.mpwas cimpwas ' . was deserted 'lbe lbe ' the d-d d d - d YanL.ees YanLees Yankees Yankees"were Yankeeswere . " were of course far on their wa wav way v to toPrInceton toPrinceton toPrinceton PrInceton Before Btrore Bcfore he could arl1ve nrtave arl1vethere nrtavethere aruvethere there that link IIn1 . in the British cham chain chamwould chainwould chainwould would he broken brol.en brolen . "ind ind 1nd and " Washington W'1shmgton W1shmgton ' on onhis onhis onhis his wav way to sifeti safety s1fet ) Cornwallis Corn\\aHls Corn aHls \ had hadmade hadmade hadmade made a shrewd guess [ Four rour 'our our ' hundred hundredmen hundredmen hundredmen men \ were ere tiken t'1.hen t1.hen t1hen taken ' . at Princeton "Ith Ith with "Ithguns withguns " withguns guns and stores The remainder of ofthe ofthe ofthe the British Briush force scattered ha\1ng ha 1ng haling ha1ngsuffered halingsuffered havingsuffered \ suffered a severe drubbIngThis drubbingThis drubbing drubbingThis This \ winter Inter fighting with wounded woundedmen woundedmen woundedmen men floundering In pools of blood bloodnnabsorbed , unabsorbed on frozen ground , was re revoltlng revolting revolting voltlng volting At Princeton the bleedlOg bleeding bleedlOgwas bleedingwas bleedingwas was not severe se.ere seere . , less than three hun bun hundred bunBred himdrcd dred Bred on both sides having ha\lOg ha lOg haung \ been heen hlUed killed hlUedor killedor killedor or wounded but the men engiged eng'1ged eng1ged engaged ' saw sawmore sawmore sawmore more blood than they hid h\d h d had ' \ seen since sincethe sincethe sincethe the war began Our men were at atfirst atfirst atfirst first severely set upon and began to toretreat toretreat toretreat retreat but the Chief rallied Taliled them and andthey andthey andthey they came through with a handsome handsomevictory handsomevictory handsomevictory handsomevictoryThe victory victoryThe The enlistment enl1stment period of two regl regi reglments regiments regiments ments expired e'lplred elplred ' ; that div d\V d V day ' \ The men menhad menhad menhad had long been 1001\.1D 1001.1D 1001 .1D 1D looking \ . forward eager eagerly eagerly eagerly ly to the hour of their releise release rele'1 rele1 ' , > e It Itcame Itcame Itcame came Light hp hparted hearted rted they were gOlDg going gOlDgborne goinghome goinghome borne home They Thev applied appUpd for their dls dis dlscharges discharges dtscharges charges General Wishington W'1"hmton W1hmton Washington ' " ; : met metthem metthem metthem them with a grave countenance He HeremInded Hereminded Hereminded remInded them that It was a crlUcal critical crlUcaltime criticaltIme criticaltime time Their country and their homes homeswere homeswere homeswere were now In greiter gre'1ter gre1ter greeter ' peril than e\ e eer ever everbefore everbefore \ er erbefore before Success SUeces , > depended on the thedogged thedogged thedogged dogged faithfulness of of/this of this Jthls jthis / body of ofmen ofmen ofmen men fie Lie knew that the feet of many manywere manywere manywere were bleeding , that an all al ] were ne-ary ne ary weary - but wearybut nearybut relief was ne'1rThe nearThe neir ne'1r ne1r near neirThe ' The men got together for a confer confercnce conference conference cnce ence and presently announced that thatthev thatthey thatthey thev they had decided to go home . . . They Theywere Theywere Theywere were sick of the hardships and the theblood theblood theblood blood lettingAgam lettingAgain letting lettingAgain Again Agam Washington appealed to Ulero them Uleroand themand themand and now with \ very ery solemn \ words \ ords A Atime Atime Atime time had come when each and e\ e ecrv eery eeryman evcrvman \ crv crvman man feelthat of ot them should know hnow and fe feel l that he held in lD his hand hands , > the fate of America ofAmerica Under those clrcumst1t1ces circumstances clrcumst1t1cescould circumstancescould circumsfincescould could they bear the shame of leaving leavinghim hIm and going to their homes ? Or Orwould Orwould Orwould would thev they continue to be heroes and andset andset andeet set a needed example e\umple e umple e\ample ample ' \ to the .youth youth . outh of ofour ofour ofour our land ? Why stop now when the theWeary theweary theweary Weary march was near Its end ? Therevere There \ were \vere vere many who heard the theChief Chief . Among them was old Amos Farns Farnsworth Farnsworth Farnsworth worth who shouted " . ' ' ' 'They They won't wont won'tlea\e won'tlea wontlea e won'ttea won'tleas leas tea \ , e a us Lord God o 0 n ' ' Israel I ' A Aman Aman Aman man that leaves oughter be hung an ' thar an'thar anthar ain't aint ' no mistake mlstahe " A thousand men began cheering cheeringIhose cheering'lhose cheeringThose 'lhose lhose Those ' abandoned who sought discharges aban doned their design and soon fell In the inthe march to Pluckemin on the way to wayto RIorristown Morristown . . . It had taken Howe's Howes ' powerful army 81 six armysix Washington hlngton % months to drh drive drise e General Wa Washing < ; hlng ton across the Delaware . the 1.he 1he 'good good ' flghtlng fighting 'goodfighting goodfighting 'goodflghtlng weathervas weather " \ was \vas vas gone . . . Winter WinteropE'rations Winteroperations Winteroperations opE'rations opErations ' In a str1n stringe/country stringe country strange/country strange e jcountrv / were "skunk skunk were"skunk wereskunk " meat " to the European Lalropean LalropeanVash Wash \Vash Vash \ Ington tngton WashIngton Vashtngton kn knpw knV knew ( > \V V \ It Soon Heath Death and Put Putnom Putmm threatenr threatenNew nom 'm m ' IQ 10 in the Highlands Hlghlandc ; began to threaten New ew York . , whereupon the British sct set out sotout sctout setout for that safe retreat where they could theycould find comfort and und security sccurlty and be andbe donevlth done \ with \vlth vlth unexpected winter dev devUtries devUtrles deviltrias Utrles iltrias la In a n treacherous countryt cnuntrybldf cnuntrysid > ldf ' ' " chief chiefhad chiefhad chiefhad So the American commander In had gained time for fbr needed recuperaUon recuperation rccupera recupera rccuperation tion Uon . . The spirit of army Ilrmy and people h\d h d had hadimproved hdImproyed hidImproved ' \ Improyed improved The New Jersey folk folf . hnd had hndbeen hadbeen hadbeen been aroused to fever fc\er fc er \ heat b by bv ) out out- outrages outrages outrages - rages which w1lch ] are the Inevitable result resultof resultof resultof of occupation by the ttmc . troops trooIs ) of Iln an Ilnenem anenemy ancnem enem enemy ) . It was a favorable time for forrecruiting forrecruiting forrecruiting recruiting , . but compared compund \ with Ith the theBritish theBritish theBritish British army . , Wnshln Washington ( on Ind h'1.d h1.d h1d had ' . a fCt fet fe * ble bleforce bleforce bleforce force of men billeted bllletI ( . In "lIorrlcto\\ "lIorrlcto lIorrlcto "lIorrlcton Morrictos "lIorrlctoSoon " MorrMmvnSoon ; \ ' n nSoon Soon a British spvns spy spv \ was \\ns ns dis discovered .Uyered Uyered < . In Incamp incamp incamp camp His IJIs name nnlne was ( . Luce .uce uce Should Shouldthey Shouldthey Shouldthey they bane hang ban , ; ; him ? 'No No ' No , , " Washington said "We We " will willmal.e willmake willmake . . mal.e male make . a wise use of him " ( Ollicers O/Ilcers O Ilcers ) flmcers / were apparently npP.1r'ntlv npP.1rntlv npP1rntlv . ( ' Impressed Impressedbs Impressedb impressedby by b , } the pcrsomhtv personahts per ow1IJt\ ow1IJt ow1IJtof \ of \ Mr 1\Jr 1 Jr J1r I 1 uce flier Fhcy Fhcyflattered flier1'1ttered riicylittered /1'1ttered 1'1ttered 11ttered flattered ( / ' him with WltJ1 friendly altenUol1 attentions attentionsgiving attentionsgiving , giving him iniich much Information and no notime notime notime time to visit vle1t ; the billets bllJets billetsA bllJetsA A plan was made under which the theh'1ttallons thebattalions thebattalions h'1ttallons h1ttallons battalions ' IlI'1rchlnout unrolling IlI'1rchln- IlI'1rchln IlI1rchln marching ' ; : - OIK out nut of cover cO\cr cO cr corer \ nnll and nnllreturning andreturning nndreturning returning to It were paraded three threetlmls threetames threetimes tlmls tames before hefore him [ raise rulee 'nice nice ' ; returns on onthe ontime onthe the time number of troops billeted In tl1'1t tl11t that tl1'1tcountryside thatcountryside tintcountryside ' countryside were w're wre ( ' scattered carE'le.ly carEle.ly carElely carelessly carelesslyon carE'le.lyon ' . : . on the desk of the adjutant " when "hen hen 1\lr 1 lr Mr 1lrI.uce MrLuce \ AirLuce I.uce Iuce Luce . came to dine alone \ with Ith him himIn himIn himIn In the midst mld"t mldt mldct " of 0(1 01 off ( the dinner the ad adjutant adjutant adJutant jutant jutantas \ was \\as as suddenly suddenlv called away The Thespy Thespy Thespy spy was now loaded and ready to de depart depart depart part . . An easyV1l easy \V1l V1l \ wav ' outfIS out \ was \\fIS fIS sins \ prepared preparedtor preparedfor preparedfor tor for him Hennlshed He \ vanished \nnlshed nnlshed , . taking to Brit lint BritIsb lintish BritIsh Isb ish headquarters In Now New York a re report report report port of the force In Mornstovvn Morristown wblch which wblchInsured whichinsured whichInsured Insured Its safetyYoung safet safety safetyYoung Young Alexander Hamilton s \ wis 1S is ' In Ingreat ingreat Ingreat great favor fa\or fa or \ with the Chief At a din dinner dinner dinner ner of the stiff st'lff stlff staff ' Washington Waslungton Iashington called cnlled on onhIm onhim onhim hIm for a speech The young YOUDg man manacquitted manacquitted manacquitted acquitted bimselfIth himself bimself \ with \\Ith Ith such wit and andcharm andcharm andcharm charm that the General arose nnd and nndshool andshook andshook shool shook . his hand After that all aU the theofflclrs theofllccrs theofficers offlclrs ofllccrs 5110\\ 5110 showed 5110ed \ ed him |