In the Days of Poor Richard
CHAPTER XXIII
THE GREATEST TRAIT OF A GREAT COMMANDER
Jack Irons used to say that no man he had known had such an uncommonamount of common sense as George Washington. He wrote to his father:
"It would seem that he must be in communication with the all-seeing mind.If he were to make a serious blunder here our cause would fail. Theenemy tries in vain to fool him. Their devices are as an open book toWashington. They have fooled me and Solomon and other officers but nothim. I had got quite a conceit of myself in judging strategy but now itis all gone.
"One day I was scouting along the lines, a few miles from Philadelphia,when I came upon a little, ragged, old woman. She wished to go throughthe lines into the country to buy flour. The moment she spoke Irecognized her. It was old Lydia Darrah who had done my washing for methe last year of my stay in Philadelphia.
"'Why, Lydia, how do you do?' I asked.
"'The way I have allus done, laddie buck," she answered in her good Irishbrogue. 'Workin' at the tub an' fightin' the divil--bad 'cess tohim--but I kape me hilth an' lucky I am to do that--thanks to the goodGod! How is me fine lad that I'd niver 'a' knowed but for the voice o'him?'
"'Not as fine as when I wore the white ruffles but stout as a moose,' Ianswered. 'The war is a sad business.'
"'It is that--may the good God defind us! We cross the sea to be rid o'the divil an' he follys an' grabs us be the neck.'
"We were on a lonely road. She looked about and seeing no one, put adirty old needle case in my hands. "'Take that, me smart lad. It's fergood luck,' she answered.
"As I left her I was in doubt of the meaning of her generosity. Soon Iopened the needle book and found in one of its pockets a piece of thinpaper rolled tight. On it I found the information that Howe would beleaving the city next morning with five thousand men, and baggage wagonsand thirteen cannon and eleven boats. The paper contained other detailsof the proposed British raid. I rode post to headquarters and luckilyfound the General in his tent. On the way I arrived at a definiteconviction regarding the plans of Howe. I was eager to give it air,having no doubt of its soundness. The General gave me respectfulattention while I laid the facts before him. Then I took my courage inmy hands and asked:
"'General, may I venture to express an opinion?'
"'Certainly,' he answered.
"'It is the plan of Howe to cross the Delaware in his boats so as to makeus believe that he is going to New York. He will recross the river aboveBristol and suddenly descend upon our rear.'
"Washington sat, with his arms folded, looking very grave but made noanswer.
"In other words, again I presented my conviction.
"Still he was silent and I a little embarrassed. In half a moment Iventured to ask:
"'General, what is your opinion?'
"He answered in a kindly tone: 'Colonel Irons, the enemy has no businessin our rear. The boats are only for our scouts and spies to look at.The British hope to fool us with them. To-morrow morning about daylightthey will be coming down the Edgely Bye Road on our left.'
"He called an aid and ordered that our front be made ready for an attackin the early morning.
"I left headquarters with my conceit upon me and half convinced that ourChief was out in his judgment of that matter. No like notion will entermy mind again. Solomon and I have quarters on the Edgely Bye Road. Alittle after three next morning the British were reported coming down theroad. A large number of them were killed and captured and the restroughly handled.
"A smart Yankee soldier in his trial for playing cards yesterday, set upa defense which is the talk of the camp. For a little time it changedthe tilt of the wrinkles on the grim visage of war. His claim was thathe had no Bible and that the cards aided him in his devotions.
"The ace reminded him of the one God; the deuce of the Father and Son;the tray of the Trinity; the four spot of the four evangelists--Matthew,Luke, Mark and John; the five spot of the five wise and the five foolishvirgins; the six spot of the six days of creation; the seven of theSabbath; the eight of Noah and his family; the nine of the nineungrateful lepers; the ten of the Ten Commandments; the knave of Judas;the queen was to him the Queen of Sheba and the king was the one greatKing of Heaven and the Universe.
"'You will go to the guard house for three days so that, hereafter, apack of cards will remind you only of a foolish soldier,' said ColonelProvost."
Snow and bitter winds descended upon the camp early in December. It wasa worn, ragged, weary but devoted army of about eleven thousand men thatfollowed Washington into Valley Forge to make a camp for the winter. Ofthese, two thousand and ninety-eight were unfit for duty. Most of thelatter had neither boots nor shoes. They marched over roads frozen hard,with old rags and pieces of hide wrapped around their feet. There weremany red tracks in the snow in the Valley of the Schuylkill that day.Hardly a man was dressed for cold weather. Hundreds were shivering andcoughing with influenza.
"When I look at these men I can not help thinking how small are mytroubles," Jack wrote to his mother. "I will complain of them no more.Solomon and I have given away all the clothes we have except those on ourbacks. A fiercer enemy than the British is besieging us here. He isWinter. It is the duty of the people we are fighting for to defend usagainst this enemy. We should not have to exhaust ourselves in such abattle. Do they think that because God has shown His favor at Brooklyn,Saratoga, and sundry other places, He is in a way committed? Are theynot disposed to take it easy and over-work the Creator? I can not resistthe impression that they are praying too much and paying too little. Ifear they are lying back and expecting God to send ravens to feed us andangels to make our boots and weave our blankets and clothing. He willnot go into that kind of business. The Lord is not a shoemaker or aweaver or a baker. He can have no respect for a people who would leaveits army to starve and freeze to death in the back country. If they areto do that their faith is rotten with indolence and avarice.
"There are many here who have nothing to wear but blankets with armholes,belted by a length of rope. There are hundreds who have no blankets tocover them at night. They have to take turns sitting by the fire whileothers are asleep. For them a night's rest is impossible. Let thisletter be read to the people of Albany and may they not lie down to sleepuntil they have stirred themselves in our behalf, and if any man dares topray to God to help us until he has given of his abundance to that endand besought his neighbors to do the same, I could wish that his prayingwould choke him. Are we worthy to be saved--that is the question. If weexpect God to furnish the flannel and the shoe leather, we are not. Thatis our part of the great task. Are we going to shirk it and fail?
"We are making a real army. The men who are able to work are beingcarefully trained by the crusty old Baron Steuben and a number of Frenchofficers."
That they did not fail was probably due to the fact that there were menin the army like this one who seemed to have some little understanding ofthe will of God and the duty of man. This letter and others like it,traveled far and wide and more than a million hands began to work for thearmy.
The Schuylkill was on one side of the camp and wooded ridges, protectedby entrenchments, on the other. Trees were felled and log hutsconstructed, sixteen by fourteen feet in size. Twelve privates werequartered in each hut.
The Gates propaganda was again being pushed. Anonymous letterscomplaining that Washington was not protecting the people of Pennsylvaniaand New Jersey from depredations were appearing in sundry newspapers. Byand by a committee of investigation arrived from Congress. They leftsatisfied that Washington had done well to keep his army alive, and thathe must have help or a large part of it would die of cold and hunger.