The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [96]
15. CORNWALLIS
JANUARY 2, 1777
THE REACTION IN HOWE’S HEADQUARTERS TO RALL’S DISASTER WAS loud and frantic, and Cornwallis’ journey to England was abruptly canceled. Again he assumed command of the army in New Jersey, crossed the Hudson, and made the journey from Amboy to Princeton in one long grueling day, a ride of over fifty miles. Cornwallis had left the headquarters escaping a firestorm of words from Howe, the man’s so carefully orchestrated schedule now a complete shambles. There would be no winter quarters for the army, not yet, the civilized tradition interrupted by the astounding spectacle of this barbaric band of rebels, who would so insult the rules of war by a surprise attack on a celebration of Christmas. De Heister had been the brunt of much of Howe’s tirade, and Cornwallis knew that the old Hessian would bear the shame for the whole debacle, that Colonel Rall had been his choice for the defense of Trenton. De Heister’s own account of the defeat was already on its way across the Atlantic, and as Cornwallis had ridden away from Howe’s headquarters, he didn’t know if he would ever see de Heister again. By the time Cornwallis returned to New York, the old man might be gone, recalled by a Hessian king who had no patience for defeat.
The reports had come to Howe’s headquarters one after another, every commander offering his own excuses, scrambling to paint the best picture of his role in the catastrophe at Trenton. Yet no one could put to paper the exact rebel strength or where they had placed their army.
Von Donop had responded to Rall’s collapse by withdrawing his men from Bordentown, knowing that with Trenton in the hands of the rebels, no other position along the Delaware River was likely to be safe. And worse, the Hessian colonel came to realize that the rebels were pursuing him not from Trenton, but from Bordentown itself, a new wave of troops who had crossed the river after Rall’s defeat. Von Donop made his way across unfamiliar farm roads, through icy streams, a frantic and miserable march to reach the safety of the British defenses at Princeton. Despite the discipline of his veterans, the utter defeat of their comrades infected the Hessian regiment with a simmering panic, and when bands of rebels began to harass their flanks, filling each night with the terror of sniper fire, the withdrawal boiled over into a chaotic retreat. To von Donop’s men, it seemed that every farmer had a musket, every family was seeking bloody revenge for Hessian plunder. Von Donop’s stragglers joined the few Hessians who had escaped Trenton, and as they scattered throughout the countryside, many of them simply deserted, helped by Cadwalader’s militia and local farmers to cross the Delaware and find their way toward Philadelphia. As much as von Donop intended to reach Princeton, to rejoin the British in a counterattack, many of his soldiers had other ideas, were in no mood for another surprise assault.
Those British units that could be mobilized in short order were now on the move westward. From Amboy to Brunswick to Princeton, the scene was frantic determination. The reinforcements marched with unaccustomed speed, inspired by the commander who quickly overtook them. Cornwallis had ridden past the columns of fresh British regiments refusing to believe that the defeat in Trenton was anything more than the sloppy arrogance of Colonel Rall, a soldier who built no defense because he had no fear of his enemy. It had been so very common in this army, a philosophy that came from Howe himself. So many of the commanders had accepted it as absolute. No rebel can stand up to a proper soldier. Since the fight at Brooklyn, there was constant congratulation at headquarters, victory after victory, driving the rabble away with the pomp and pageantry the empire expected. But there are