The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [144]
Grey seemed depressed by his words, saluted him, said, “Yes, sir. It will be done.”
Grey moved away, followed by two aides who had stayed out near the road. Cornwallis watched him for a long moment, thought, He is too experienced to be so naÏve. None of this is new to this army. We all know of ambition and intrigue, glory and pettiness. It is simply the way. It has always been the way. If General Howe fails, he will pay the price, and we will follow someone else. Whether there is glory or blame cannot matter. What matters is those men who are waiting for us up ahead.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1777
The ground was rolling, open fields cut by shallow ravines, farmland and forest, intersected by narrow creeks. The scouts had led the skirmish lines toward a great mass of rebels, but they had not been in place long, there was no sign of a strong defensive line. Howe had ridden to the front with him, the two men scouting the land, seeking the strength of rebel positions. They found themselves scouted in return, rebels appearing close, across the banks of a narrow deep creek. They came within a hundred yards of each other, both parties withdrawing quickly. But Cornwallis had raised his field glasses, had caught a clear glimpse of one man, the distinct uniform of a senior officer. But his curiosity was replaced by Howe’s excitement, the army so close to the goal, so close to the confrontation, that finally Washington would give them a fight.
The army continued to maneuver, and along the narrow stream, Washington responded, until finally, the two armies faced each other, skirmish line to skirmish line. Cornwallis studied the maps, sought out more of the local scouts, the men who could give him the location of the crossings, the valuable fords. The lines on the maps meant nothing to him except that the rebels had anchored their troops behind the stream. But as the Tories examined the maps, they added information to the drawings, and he was surprised when they told him of the shallow fords, so many places for an army to cross upstream, above the rebel position. As he worked and planned, he began to realize there was a weakness to the rebel position, a way of moving across the stream and assaulting the rebels from their flank. It was a surprise, that for all the advantages this ground provided the rebels, that they might have made a mistake, hasty reconnaissance perhaps, poor scouting of ground that might be unfamiliar to Washington as well.
As the plan came together, Howe was easily convinced. If the ground was unfamiliar, the tactic was not, the same plan they had used on Long Island. Then, the water was at the rebels’ back. This time it was to their front. When the plan was firm in his mind, Cornwallis studied the maps one last time, studied more than the pencil lines. He noticed the names, crude letters marking the villages and crossings, Buffington, Kennett, Chadd’s Ford. And the deep winding stream, Brandywine Creek, that Washington must have felt was his great ally.
23. WASHINGTON
SEPTEMBER 11, 1777
WITH THE FIRST LIGHT, THE CREEK HAD BEEN SHROUDED IN A LOW carpet of fog, but as the sun rose, the air grew thick and warm, the hum of insects filling the dense brush that hid much of Washington’s army. He had placed his troops into a compact line along the Brandywine, with a regiment of light infantry spread just across the creek, the men who would seek out the first contact with Howe’s advancing army. By midmorning, those men had scampered across the Brandywine in a hasty retreat, pursued by the enemy who was not British but Hessian. The blue-coated soldiers did not follow the Americans across the fords of the Brandywine, and it was clear that the Hessians had not intended to start a general engagement. Instead, they backed away along a high ridge west of the creek, just beyond the view of Washington’s lookouts. As the enemy troops disappeared, the lookouts could see a line of black specks spreading along the crest of the hill, the Hessian