From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 168
"That is a very reasonable request, General Lee, and surely you cannot refuse it."
Without replying, he immediately wrote the following:
"For the satisfaction of General Heath, and at his request, I do certify that I am commanding officer, at this
present writing, in this post, and that I have, in that capacity, ordered Prescott's and Wyllis' regiments to
march."
The next morning General Lee rode up to Heath's door, and said:
"Upon further consideration I have concluded not to take the two regiments with me. You may order them to
return to their former post."
Evidently the ambitious and conceited general had come to the conclusion that "discretion is the better part of
valor."
General Lee did not cross the Hudson until the 4th of December, moving snail-like, although he knew that
Washington's army was in imminent peril.
"Do come on," Washington's last plea was; "your arrival may be fortunate, and, if it can be effected without
delay, it may be the means of preserving a city whose loss must prove of the most fatal consequence to the
cause of America."
The "city" referred to was Philadelphia. Washington had written to him that the enemy was designing to
capture Philadelphia, a calamity that must be prevented if possible.
At this time Washington had removed the baggage and stores of his army across the Delaware. Being
reinforced, however, by fifteen hundred Pennsylvania militia, he resolved to march back to Princeton and
await developments. On his way he met General Stirling, who had evacuated Princeton, as Cornwallis was
marching upon it with a large force. Returning to Trenton, he hastily collected all the boats possible, and
conveyed his whole force over the Delaware, including General Stirling's command from Princeton. The
rear-guard had scarcely crossed the river when Cornwallis appeared in the distance with his "bannered hosts."
As Washington had taken possession of all the boats and transports, the enemy could not cross.
The tact and skill of Washington as a general were as conspicuous in his retreat through the Jerseys as they
were on any battlefield. Thomas Paine accompanied the army, and he wrote:
"With a handful of men we sustained an orderly retreat for near an hundred miles, brought off our
ammunition, all our field-pieces, the greatest part of our stores, and had four rivers to pass. None can say that
our retreat was precipitate, for we were three weeks in performing it, that the country might have time to come
in. Twice we marched back to meet the enemy, and remained out until dark. The sign of fear was not seen in
our camp; and had not some of the cowardly and disaffected inhabitants spread false alarms through the
country, the Jerseys had never been ravaged."
On the 12th of December, General Lee had marched no farther than Vealtown, eight miles from Morristown.
He continued to disregard Washington's appeals and instructions, receiving one almost every day. In some of
them the commander-in-chief showed that his patience was well nigh exhausted.
"I am surprised that you should be in doubt about the route you are to take after my definite instructions," he
wrote on the 11th of December.
"I have so frequently mentioned our situation, and the necessity of your aid, that it is painful for me to add a