Adjutant-General Joseph Reed led seven cavalrymen of the Philadelphia Light Horse to collect intelligence for General Washington.
The "obscure and doubtful" intelligence on which General Washington had to base his next action frustrated him after a decisive victory in the Battle of Trenton.[1] Washington observed to Adjutant-General Joseph Reed that the strength of the British in the area had greatly discouraged spies for the revolution;[1] Reed had the same opinion, having himself encountered the "poor" and "terrified" inhabitants of Bordentown only days before. Red rags hung from almost every house door in expression of Tory sympathies; homeowners were hastily tearing them down in accordance with the clear turn of events. Reed considered the residents "effectually broken and hardly resembling what they had been a few months before."[2]
Reed was a New Jersey native and proposed to Washington that he led a group of cavalrymen from the Philadelphia Light Horse toward Princeton to enlist spies. The Philadelphia Light Horse was a group of twenty-one wealthy young men that volunteered its service to General Washington. They paid their own expenses, and, unlike most Continental troops, were gentlemen. The Light Horse wore chocolate brown uniforms, high-topped riding boots, and black hats with silver cords and bucktails. David Hackett-Fischer speculates that ragged Continental infantrymen jeered them as they approached Trenton on matched chestnut horses.[3]
Washington approved the mission, and sent Reed with seven cavalrymen.[1] The residents on the road to Princeton, however, were afraid. In Reed's words, the "arms and ravages of the enemy" had terrified the population; though they were "otherwise well disposed," no reward could tempt them to go into Princeton on a mission of espionage.[1] Stories of captured revolutionaries who were starving in the prison hulks of New York, along with more immediate accounts of British plunder and rape in New Jersey, were doubtlessly a strong deterrent to participation in the cause of the Continental Army.[4]
Reed and his men were determined to return with valuable information. Expecting that the rear of Princeton would be poorly guarded, they circled the town.[1] They were about a half-mile southeast of Clarksville,[5] almost in view of Princeton itself, when they spotted a British soldier walking between a barn and a house. Reed assumed he was looting, and sent two cavalrymen to take him prisoner.[1] The Light Horsemen kept the barn between themselves and the house to approach closely without being noticed.[5]
A second and third soldier appeared as they rode, and Reed ordered the rest of his men to charge.[1] As things worked out, Reed's men were outnumbered, but they were also in the right place at the right time. Most of the twelve British soldiers were busy "conquering a parcel of mince pies" as the Light Horse surrounded the house.[6] Seven cavalrymen, six of whom had "never before seen an enemy," thus forced the surrender of twelve well-armed British dragoons.[7]
Reed and the Light Horse returned to Trenton with their captives mounted behind, probably to a much different reception by Continental infantrymen.[6] The prisoners were separately interrogated, and revealed that General Grant had reinforced British troops at Princeton, that the force assembled there comprised over 8,000 trained soldiers, and that the British intended to advance on Trenton. This was critical intelligence; at the time, Washington commanded only 4,700 men, many of whom were new recruits, and all of whom were poorly equipped.[8]
"A Very Intelligent Young Gentleman"
On 12 December, Washington had written a letter to Colonel John Cadwalader, the senior officer of a militia called the Philadelphia Associators. This letter emphasized what Washington understood as an imminent necessity for both intelligence and counterintelligence.
Cadwalader's map was highly detailed, and included cannon and works that the British force had begun to prepare, but had not yet finished.
Spare no pains or expense to get intelligence of the enemy’s motions and intentions. Any promises made, or sums advanced, shall be fully complied with and discharged... Every piece of intelligence you obtain worthy of notice, send it forward by express... Keep a good lookout for spies, and magnify your numbers as much as possible.[9]
Three days after receiving these orders, Cadwalader replied that he had sent "several persons over for intelligence."[10] Two weeks later, on the morning of 31 December, he identified one of his spies, "a very intelligent young gentleman" who had just returned from Princeton with details on the British force and its disposition.
...there were about five thousand men, consisting of Hessians and British troops—about the same number of each... He conversed with some of the officers, and lodged last night with them... No sentries on the back or east end of the town. They parade every morning an hour before day, and some nights lie on their arms. An attack has been expected for several nights past—the men are much fatigued, and until last night [were] in want of provisions, when a very considerable number of wagons arrived with provisions from Brunswick...[11]
In accordance with Washington's orders, the spy magnified the Continental Army's numbers, telling them the best accounts reported 16,000 troops. This surprised the British, who had expected no more than five or six thousand.[12]
The same young gentleman, by coincidence, was "near the party of chasseurs" when they were captured by Reed and the Light Horse, and was with the British officers when they received news of the attack.[12]
Cadwalader included with his letter a "rough draft of the road from this place," meaning from Crosswicks, where Cadwalader was at the time, to Princeton. The map was highly detailed. Cadwalader put numbers next to bridges, for example, to indicate the number of soldiers defending them. A block of text perpendicular to the others ran up and down the right side of the map, highlighting a road: "This road leads to the back part of Princeton which may be entered anywhere on this side—the country cleared, chiefly, for about 2 miles... few fences."[13] The map was particularly helpful in that it displayed not what existed at the time Cadwalader drew it up, but what would exist by the time General Washington could act on the intelligence it provided. In other words, the map was estimative, indicating "works begun, and those intended this morning."[5]
Before he heard from Cadwalader, Washington had only three pieces of intelligence, all of which were ascertained through prisoner interrogation: firstly, that General James Grant had reinforced British troops at Princeton; secondly, that the aggregate force there comprised over 8,000 soldiers; and thirdly, that they intended to advance on Trenton. It is likely that Cadwalader's report, obtained from a plainclothes spy who ingratiated himself with British officers, relieved Washington both by suggesting a substantially weaker enemy force of around 5,000 men and by providing detailed, actionable information on their positions and disposition.
Washington immediately sent a large Continental force up the Post Road with orders to delay any British movement toward Trenton. It advanced under the cover of darkness on New Year's Eve, occupying a position six miles from Nassau Hall. The British spotted them at dawn and sent its First Battalion light infantry, along with two Hessian companies to engage the revolutionaries. The British cleared the road, but at a heavy cost.[14]
St. Clair's Proposal
On 2 January 1777, British troops advanced in force; the Continental Army held its ground at Assunpink Creek in the Second Battle of Trenton. That evening, Washington convened a council of war. His senior officers, including Reed and Cadwalader, were there, along with local citizens whom Washington invited both to attend the meeting and to speak freely.[15]
Washington's officers considered several alternatives, none of which seemed advantageous. General Arthur St. Clair proposed a surprise attack on the enemy's rear; if Continental troops could reach Quaker Bridge unobserved and unopposed, he argued, they would only have to proceed north about six miles before reaching Princeton. Reed confirmed this estimate and contributed his own knowledge of the terrain. When he led the Light Horse to Princeton, he mentioned, they saw no British on the back roads. One officer later recalled that "two men from the country, near the route proposed," were "called to the council for their opinions of its practicability."[16]
St. Clair's idea was bold. Washington might have rejected it outright had it not been for the additional intelligence he was able to solicit from ordinary colonists on the evening of 2 January.
Aftermath
When Washington wrote John Hancock three days later, on 5 January 1777, it was with good news.
I have the honor to inform you, that, since the date of my last from Trenton, I have removed with the army under my command to this place. ... Their large pickets advanced towards Trenton, their great preparations, and some intelligence I had received, added to their knowledge, that the 1st of January brought on a dissolution of the best part of our army, gave me the strongest reasons to conclude, that an attack upon us was meditating.[17][18]
Washington described the Continental Army's march to Princeton, "by a roundabout road," as its baggage was quietly moved to Burlington.[19] The Battle of Princeton was a decisive victory for Continental troops, which took the British force by surprise.[20] This was just the pick-up colonists needed; The Pennsylvania Journal wrote that if Washington had lived in the days of idolatry, he would have been worshiped as a god.[20]
Washington formally discharged the Philadelphia Light Horse three weeks later, saying that "though composed of gentlemen of fortune," they had "shown a noble example of discipline and subordination," and in several actions had "shown a spirit and bravery which will ever do honor to them, and will ever be gratefully remembered by me."[21] In September 1779, the Light Horse reconvened at Washington's own request and served the Continental Army until the British surrender at Yorktown two years later, in October 1781.[22]
The Philadelphia Light Horse enjoyed an honorable legacy after the American Revolution. In his 1816 memoir, General Wilkinson praised the cavalrymen for their 30 December expedition. This "little act of decisive gallantry" had "tended to increase the confidence of the troops, and certainly reflected high honor on the small detachment."[23] Eight years later, at a reception held for General Lafayette, John Lardner and William Leiper—the sons of two Light Horse cavalrymen who were part of the reconnaissance mission—wore the gorgets of British officers captured that day.[24]
Published in 1875, the Light Horse's narrative of the 30 December expedition cooperates almost perfectly with that of Joseph Reed. The sole discrepancy is the number of men that Reed took with him. The Light Horse maintains that Reed took twelve, not seven, cavalrymen with him on the mission to Princeton,[25] while Reed clearly asserts in his handwritten account that he proceeded on that day "with seven gentlemen," five of whom he names: Messrs. Caldwell, Dunlap, Hunter, Pollard, and Peters.[1] Assuming that the two others are Messrs. Lardner and Leiper, five men of the Light Horse's narrative remain unaccounted for.
Whether Reed excluded, by accident or by design, the names of men that accompanied him on such a vital mission, or whether members of the Light Horse sought credit, ex post facto, for a mission with which they were not involved, is unclear. History seems to have sided with the Light Horse; most accounts of the expedition mention twelve, not seven cavalrymen. A notable exception is David Hackett Fischer’s Washington's Crossing, which—perhaps nodding to the discrepancy—avoids the mention of a figure.
The legacy of the Philadelphia Light Horse stands in stark contrast to that of Cadwalader's anonymous and "intelligent young gentleman." He might have been a student at Princeton, which had been closed since the British invasion.[26] It is likely that he had no surviving family; none claimed his story after the war or since.
The Battle of Princeton was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, fought near Princeton, New Jersey on January 3, 1777, and ending in a small victory for the Colonials. General Lord Cornwallis had left 1,400 British troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood in Princeton. Following a surprise attack at Trenton early in the morning of December 26, 1776, General George Washington of the Continental Army decided to attack the British in New Jersey before entering the winter quarters. On December 30, he crossed the Delaware River back into New Jersey. His troops followed on January 3, 1777. Washington advanced to Princeton by a back road, where he pushed back a smaller British force but had to retreat before Cornwallis arrived with reinforcements. The battles of Trenton and Princeton were a boost to the morale of the patriot cause, leading many recruits to join the Continental Army in the spring.
The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle that took place on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River north of Trenton the previous night, Washington led the main body of the Continental Army against Hessian auxiliaries garrisoned at Trenton. After a brief battle, almost two-thirds of the Hessian force was captured, with negligible losses to the Americans. The battle significantly boosted the Continental Army's waning morale, and inspired re-enlistments.
The New York and New Jersey campaign was a series of battles in 1776 and the winter months of 1777 for control of the Port of New York and the state of New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between British forces under General Sir William Howe and the Continental Army under General George Washington. Howe was successful in driving Washington out of New York, but overextended his reach into New Jersey, and ended the active campaign season in January 1777 with only a few outposts near the city. The British held New York harbor for the rest of the war, using it as a base for expeditions against other targets.
John Cadwalader was a commander of Pennsylvania troops during the American Revolutionary War and served under George Washington. He was with Washington at Valley Forge.
George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey, on the morning of December 26. Planned in partial secrecy, Washington led a column of Continental Army troops across the icy Delaware River in a logistically challenging and dangerous operation.
The Battle of the Assunpink Creek, also known as the Second Battle of Trenton, was a battle between American and British troops that took place in and around Trenton, New Jersey, on January 2, 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, and resulted in an American victory.
As the location of many major battles, New Jersey was pivotal in the American Revolution and the ultimate victory of the American colonists. This important role earned it the title of Crossroads of the American Revolution.
The 1st Continental Light Dragoons, also known as Bland's Horse, was a mounted regiment of the Continental Army organized between 13 June and 10 September 1776 in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was made up of men from eastern and northern Virginia for service with the Continental Army.
The Battle of Fort Washington was fought in New York on November 16, 1776 during the American Revolutionary War between the United States and Great Britain. It was a British victory that gained the surrender of the remnant of the garrison of Fort Washington near the north end of Manhattan Island. It was one of the worst Patriot defeats of the war.
Pennsylvania was the site of key events and places related to the American Revolution. The state, and especially the city of Philadelphia, played a critical role in the American Revolution.
The Ambush of Geary was a skirmish of the American Revolutionary War fought on 14 December 1776 near Ringoes in Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Cornet Francis Geary, the leader of a company of dragoons, was shot in an ambush set up by local militiamen.
The Forage War was a partisan campaign consisting of numerous small skirmishes that took place in New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War between January and March 1777, following the battles of Trenton and Princeton. After both British and Continental Army troops entered their winter quarters in early January, Continental Army regulars and militia companies from New Jersey and Pennsylvania engaged in numerous scouting and harassing operations against the British and German troops quartered in New Jersey.
The Battle of White Marsh or Battle of Edge Hill was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought December 5–8, 1777, in the area surrounding Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania. The battle, which took the form of a series of skirmish actions, was the last major engagement of 1777 between British and American forces.
George Washington commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). After serving as President of the United States, he briefly was in charge of a new army in 1798.
The military career of George Washington spanned over forty years of service. Washington's service can be broken into three periods, French and Indian War, American Revolutionary War, and the Quasi-War with France, with service in three different armed forces.
The Battle of Iron Works Hill, also known as the Battle of Mount Holly, was a series of minor skirmishes that took place on December 22 and 23, 1776, during the American War of Independence. They took place in Mount Holly, New Jersey, between an American force mostly composed of colonial militia under Colonel Samuel Griffin and a force of 2,000 Hessians and British regulars under Carl von Donop.
The Pennsylvania Line Mutiny was a mutiny of Continental Army soldiers, who demanded higher pay and better housing conditions, and was the cause of the legend and stories surrounding the American heroine Tempe Wick. The mutiny began on January 1, 1781, and ended with a negotiated settlement on January 8, 1781. The negotiated terms were finally concluded by January 29, 1781. The mutiny was the most successful and important insurrection of Continental Army soldiers during the American Revolutionary War.
The Battle of Trenton was fought on December 26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War campaign for New Jersey. In a surprise attack, the Continental Army led by George Washington attacked the winter quarters of a brigade composed primarily of German troops from Hesse-Kassel in Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessian brigade was under the command of Colonel Johann Rall; he died of wounds sustained in the battle, and about two thirds of his men were taken prisoner. It was the first major victory after a long string of defeats that had resulted in the loss of New York City, and was a significant boost to American morale. It was followed by two more American victories, first in a second battle at Trenton on January 2, 1777, and then on January 3 at Princeton.
The 4th Continental Artillery Regiment, also known as Reign’s Continental Artillery Regiment, was an American military unit during the American Revolutionary War. The regiment became part of the Continental Army on 10 June 1777 as Colonel Thomas Proctor's Continental Artillery Regiment. It was made up of eight artillery companies from eastern Pennsylvania. At the time of the regiment's formation, two companies were already in existence, one from as early as October 1775. One company served at Trenton in December 1776 where it performed well in action. In February 1777, Pennsylvania expanded its two-company battalion into an eight-company regiment. After officially joining the Continental Army, the regiment saw much fighting in the Philadelphia campaign in late 1777. Elements of Proctor's Regiment fought at Monmouth in June 1778 and joined the Sullivan Expedition in summer 1779.
Daniel Hitchcock was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University. He moved to Providence, Rhode Island where he became an attorney and was suspected by the authorities of involvement in the Gaspee Affair. At the start of the American Revolutionary War he formed Hitchcock's Regiment of infantry in the Rhode Island Army of Observation. He was first appointed lieutenant colonel in command of the regiment when it marched to serve in the Siege of Boston in 1775. His regiment was renamed the 11th Continental Regiment during 1776. That year, he led his troops at Long Island, Harlem Heights, and White Plains.
References
By-laws, Muster-roll, and Papers Selected from the Archives of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry: from November 17, 1774, to March 1, 1856. (1856). James B. Smith.
Flexner, J. (1968). George Washington in the American Revolution. Boston: Little and Brown.
History of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry: from its Organization, November 17th, 1774 to its Centennial Anniversary, November 17th, 1874. (1875). Philadelphia: Hallowell.
Reed, J. (1880). General Joseph Reed's Narrative of the Movements of the American Army in the Neighborhood of Trenton in the Winter of 1776–77. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 8 (1), 391–402.
Reed, W. B. (1847). Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed: Military Secretary of Washington, at Cambridge; Adjutant-General of the Continental Army; Member of the Congress of the United States; and President of the Executive Council of the State of Pennsylvania. Lindsay and Blakiston.
Rose, A. (2006). Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. New York: Bantam Books.
Solis, G. D. (2010). The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War. Cambridge University Press.
Washington, G. (1890). The Writings of George Washington. G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Wilkinson, J. (1816). Memoirs of My Own Times. Printed by Abraham Small.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
