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By Root 1383 0

of winter quarters, new recruits responding to the spreading word of the health and pride of the army. Von Steuben’s drills and lessons had imparted that pride not only to the men who marched under his sharp calls, but to the civilians far beyond the camps at Valley Forge. With their fields planted, a vast number of farmers had enlisted, and some of the unreliable militia were signing up for extended duty, to receive the training that would make them soldiers. By the time the British had made their crossing into New Jersey, Washington was able to mobilize a force of over thirteen thousand men, a number nearly equal to what Clinton had on the march toward New York. Though the British had a head start, their slow progress gave Washington precious time to assemble a march of his own. Despite Lee’s insistence that Clinton was simply offering bait to lure Washington into some deadly trap, the pursuit began. Six hundred men marched out under the command of William Maxwell, striking quickly across what Washington believed to be Clinton’s intended route of march. Maxwell’s troops were to disrupt the roadways, cutting trees, destroying bridges, an effort to slow the British even further. Six hundred skilled marksmen were sent out under Daniel Morgan, a harassing force to torment Clinton’s flanks, possibly to force the British to stop marching altogether.

Washington himself crossed the Delaware at Coryell’s Ferry, a few short miles from his triumphant assault on Trenton. With the smattering of intelligence that came from the scouts, he began to understand Clinton’s dilemma. Washington had marched his men on the more direct route, was now a few miles above Princeton. The alternatives for Clinton were clear: Attack Washington or avoid him. Unless the British intended to provoke a direct engagement, Clinton would have to turn away from the Brunswick–Amboy route, and march out across the sandy farmland to the east.

HOPEWELL, NEW JERSEY, JUNE 24, 1778

Each day had become an agony of delay, the uncertainty that comes from ignorance of the enemy’s intentions. The reports from Morgan had stopped completely, the marksmen now making their brief assaults along Clinton’s eastern flank, separated from Washington’s headquarters by the entire force of the British army. He knew that Maxwell’s men had done their work with admirable effectiveness, that the British were making incredibly slow progress. But the plodding march presented problems of its own. Until Clinton made a definite move to either the north or east, Washington could not know where to position his army or what strategy might be best employed. If the British were suddenly to increase their speed, Clinton might move his forces far enough away that Washington could not hope to catch them at all, and the extraordinary opportunity to strike the vulnerable British march would be lost. As he sat in his headquarters, suffering the silence of his scouts, his patience finally gave way. After the evening meal was consumed, he ordered the senior officers to gather in a council of war. There would be no decision made without the involvement of the men who would carry out the plan.

They filled the room, most standing, the few chairs occupied by the men who required them, Greene with his stiff leg, and Lafayette, still recovering from his leg wound at Brandywine. Washington waited for them to find their places, gentle maneuvering, and when the voices grew quiet, he said, “Gentlemen, the primary question before us is whether we should hazard an attack on the enemy. It is my intention not to allow a precious opportunity to escape us. General Clinton has obliged us by providing what could be a target of vast potential. Mr. Maxwell’s troops have done admirable work providing obstructions on all roadways in General Clinton’s path. It seems as well that the British are greatly encumbered by their train of supply. It is a mystery why General Clinton did not transport such a volume of baggage by sea. However, I am not so concerned with solving mysteries as I am confronting the result.”

Lee