The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [327]
“Is that not a capital idea, sir? I’m certain Admiral Hood would agree. Athletics, perhaps, pass the time with the fine art of competition. Army versus navy. Could give the men quite a boost, sir.”
Cornwallis lowered the glasses now, saw a young sergeant approaching, the man pointing out toward the fleet.
“Sir, beggin’ your pardon. The lookouts report, sir. The ships . . .”
“I know, Sergeant.” He raised the glasses again, could see bits of color now, stared for a long quiet moment. He felt a cold mass growing in his stomach, and his hand shook, clouding his vision. He lowered the glasses again, said, “General O’Hara, we should postpone your festivities for the moment. That fleet . . . is French.”
55. LAFAYETTE
SEPTEMBER 1781
THEY HAD SPENT MOST OF THE SUMMER IN A RAPID SCRAMBLE FOR survival. Instead of cursing Lafayette for their constant state of motion, the men seemed to understand that the young Frenchman was in fact showing exceptional skill at maneuvering his army. The British had spent long weeks on marches that accomplished nothing, and with little to show for their exhaustive efforts, Cornwallis finally conceded the futility of his mission and withdrew his army down the peninsula toward Williamsburg. Lafayette had followed, fully expecting some sudden turnabout, Cornwallis trying to catch him unaware. It was clear that the British had the strength, and if Cornwallis wanted to drive his troops all the way to Maryland, there was little Lafayette could do to stop him. But as they backed away from him, Lafayette knew to press forward, and when the opportunity had presented itself, he turned aggressor. He had kept as close to Cornwallis as he dared, and if the sight of enemy campfires made his men especially prone to panic, it also offered Lafayette the opportunity to strike quickly. With Anthony Wayne now in his camp, Lafayette knew that the Pennsylvanian the men now called Mad Anthony could be the perfect officer for a rapid assault.
The place was called Green Spring, a swampy lowland near Williamsburg, along the north side of the James River. The scouts had brought word that Cornwallis was pulling away from his base at Williamsburg, had gathered boats for a crossing of the James. Lafayette assumed that the British were intending to gather and resupply at their base at Portsmouth. Wayne was given the command of a force of five hundred men, who would slip rapidly toward the crossing, and with good fortune might time their assault to catch Cornwallis vulnerable, with the British spread across both sides of the river. Wayne had advanced with his usual speed, and seemed ready to make a decisive blow at what seemed to be the British rear guard. But Cornwallis had learned of his approach, had hidden the main body of the British army behind Wayne’s intended target. The result was a trap, a hot fight that Wayne barely escaped. Though he was nearly engulfed by the entire British army, Wayne continued to press his attack, surprising his own men as well as the British who faced him. Lafayette quickly pushed forward reinforcements, and arrived on the field barely in time to pull Wayne back from a lopsided engagement that could have wiped out a sizable portion of Lafayette’s command. It was a valuable lesson. Though Wayne was possibly the most capable field commander he had, “Mad Anthony” had not gotten his nickname by accident.
For Cornwallis, Green Spring had been an opportunity lost. The British had simply run out of daylight, and by the next morning, Lafayette had pulled his army together into a strong defensive position. The British resumed their crossing of the James, and made no further attempts to engage Lafayette again. Though Green Spring had been a seriously close call, Lafayette had been suspicious of Cornwallis’ retreat, had not believed the British would simply pull away from him without attempting another major assault. As Cornwallis continued to shift his strength across the peninsula, Lafayette assumed he was still gathering his forces, forming some new plan to sweep the