George Washington by Stephen Brumwell

Author:Stephen Brumwell [Brumwell, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781623651015
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2013-08-29T04:00:00+00:00

8

Victory or Death

Lacking the boats he needed to ferry his troops across the Delaware River and continue hounding Washington’s army, on December 14, 1776, William Howe called a halt to the victorious campaign that had begun on Long Island four months earlier, quartering his redcoats and Hessians in a great swathe across New Jersey. The general himself retired to New York, keen to enjoy its pleasures. He no doubt felt that he’d earned them: with Charles Lee captured, Congress fled to Baltimore, and Washington chivvied into Pennsylvania, the revolutionaries’ cause appeared to be teetering on the very brink of collapse. To cap his triumph, Howe had just received the coveted red ribbon of the Order of the Bath from King George III as a reward for trouncing the rebels.

The temptation to push future operations into Pennsylvania and capture Philadelphia now prompted Sir William to drastically revise his projected strategy for 1777. At the end of November, he had envisaged that no fewer than 10,000 of his men would strike north up the Hudson when the new campaign opened, cooperating with a fresh expedition down the river by British forces in Canada. An equal number would attack Boston; that force would advance from a new base at Newport, Rhode Island—which a detachment under Clinton captured on December 8. Allowing 7,000 men to garrison that port and New York, Howe’s plan allocated 8,000 troops to cover New Jersey and pin down Washington by menacing Philadelphia. This scheme involved 35,000 men in all, and Howe had requested a hefty reinforcement of 15,000 to implement it. However, the unexpectedly rapid recovery of New Jersey convinced him to reshuffle his priorities: under a fresh plan, sent to Lord George Germain on December 20, the main offensive was now to be directed against Washington in Pennsylvania. In consequence, the projected drive against New England from Rhode Island was postponed until the reinforcements arrived, while a mere 3,000 men would hover on the Lower Hudson, to screen New Jersey and “facilitate in some degree the approach” of the northern army from Canada.1

To ensure that his army could push swiftly forward across the Delaware River as soon as it froze thick enough to support his men and guns and give the maximum protection to New Jersey’s Loyalists, Howe’s army was spread along a very extensive line of cantonments, stretching from Paulus Hook on the Hudson to the banks of the Delaware River. The chain’s southern end, on the Delaware itself, was tethered to outposts at Bordentown, Burlington, and Trenton. Each settlement was held by brigade-strength detachments of three battalions; save for the Highlanders of the 42nd, all were Hessians. Some twelve miles farther back at Princeton was a strong supporting force of redcoats: five battalions of infantry plus three troops of light dragoons. Farther back still, on the Raritan River, sizable detachments held Hillsborough and Brunswick. Smaller bodies of troops were distributed between another twelve posts running north. Overall command of the occupying forces in New Jersey rested

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