The General and Mrs. Washington by Bruce Chadwick

Author:Bruce Chadwick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2007-11-07T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE DEATH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON…

The worst storm to hit the Atlantic Coast in thirty-five years arrived on the morning of February 24, 1777, covering the streets of New York City with more than a foot of snow and dropping fifteen inches on Morristown, the 1777 winter home of the Continental Army. It followed a previous storm, and soldiers in Morristown reported banks of snow three feet high from wind drifts; the storm paralyzed all of New Jersey.

It was still another headache for George Washington. He had arrived in Morristown after he crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, and scored twin triumphs over the British at Trenton and Princeton, surprise victories that boosted the morale not only of his beleaguered troops, but of the entire nation. He chose the tiny village of two hundred and fifty people because it was close enough to New York City so that he could monitor British troop movements but far enough away to give him time to flee if the Redcoats launched a major attack against him.

Residents did all they could for the general. They housed soldiers in their homes, some taking in as many as a dozen men. Local farmers provided as much food as possible for the army, and public officials and ministers did all they could to encourage area residents to join the military. Washington turned Arnold’s Tavern, located on the village green, into headquarters. He would live in two small rooms on the second floor. Here in Morristown, with the help of locals, the commander in chief hoped that his wounded men would heal from the New York battles and that he would be able to rebuild his decimated military forces.

Before the stunning victories during the last days of 1776 and the first days of 1777, the American Army had been repeatedly beaten in battles in and around New York City. At the same time, an American invasion of British-held Canada had failed. More than five hundred men had died of smallpox in the hasty retreat south into New York State.

At New York, Washington met the English force of thirty-two thousand soldiers with an army of nineteen thousand men, all from militia companies. He had not only misjudged the skills of the enemy, but badly misjudged the capacity of his own army. The British overwhelmed the Americans in Brooklyn in late August. The Americans suffered fifteen hundred killed and wounded; another eleven hundred were taken prisoner. In short order, the Americans were forced to abandon their defenses at Harlem Heights in Manhattan, and were routed at White Plains, with heavy losses. The British then attacked their encampment at Fort Washington in Manhattan, seized it, and captured three thousand men.

The later Christmas crossing of the Delaware kept the Revolution alive, but the shrunken army Washington took to Morristown was small and weak.

Martha had accompanied George to New York and lived with him in Manhattan as he planned the defense of the region, but had been sent home before the summer battles commenced.

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