Free The Crossing by Howard Fast Page B

to march his men toward Pluck-amin, in accordance with Lee’s orders. Wilkinson told General Sullivan what had happened at the inn, and Wilkinson’s excitement was such that he simply took it for granted that Sullivan, being second in command to Lee, would also be a part of the ripening cabal against Washington. Quite certain of this, he turned over the letter that Lee had intended for Gates to Sullivan.
    However, Sullivan appeared to be undisturbed at the news of Lee’s capture. He read the letter that Lee had written to General Gates without comment, returning it then to Wilkinson, suggesting that he take it along to Gates, for whom it was intended.
    Wilkinson did not attempt to define Sullivan’s attitude, but one can surmise that it was one of contempt. Sullivan then dispensed with Lee’s orders, changed the direction of his march and set out to join his army to Washington’s on the other side of the Delaware.
    An hour later, Sullivan and his troops heard the British guns firing in celebration of the capture of an American general.

[23]
    ON THE DELAWARE, as well as in the Jersey hinterland where Lee had been captured, the thirteenth of December was a frigid and dismal day, a mixture of rain and sleet. On the Delaware, the Americans were cold, despondent and miserable. In Philadelphia, the mood was one of impending disaster. A rumor raced through the town to the effect that General Washington and his staff had come to the decision to burn every building in Philadelphia to the ground, thereby providing no winter shelter for the British army. The reaction to this rumor by the citizens of Philadelphia, who so cherished their beautiful homes, was one of total dismay. A feeling of panic took hold of the city. The rumor appeared to be founded in fact, for the Congress had left Philadelphia the day before; and from the ragged army on the banks of the Delaware River came no note of hope or encouragement, nor was there any word in the newspapers of Lee’s or Gates’s army.
    Early on the thirteenth, a messenger brought word of this harrowing rumor to the much-harassed General Washington, who immediately instructed General Israel Putnam to deny it emphatically. By the afternoon of the same day Putnam’s heralds were reading aloud in Philadelphia the following statement of his military government:
    â€œThe General has been informed that some weak or wicked men have maliciously reported that it is the design and wish of the officers and men in the Continental army to burn and destroy the city of Philadelphia. To counteract such a false and scandalous report he thinks it necessary to inform the inhabitants who propose to remain in the city, that he has received positive orders from the honorable Continental Congress and from His Excellency, General Washington, to secure and protect the city of Philadelphia against all invaders and enemies. The general will consider every attempt to burn the city of Philadelphia as a crime of the blackest dye, and will, without ceremony, punish capitally any incendiary who shall have the hardiness and cruelty to attempt it.”
    Such was Israel Putnam’s reputation for determination and for dedication to the cause he had espoused that any plot that might have existed to burn the city was quickly abandoned by the plotters. Philadelphia stood, in spite of the fact that everyone realized that its defense was impossible. There was no army to defend it, and neither was there at this moment any real determination among the leaders of the rebellion to defend Philadelphia, except for General Washington and his staff; and even they were not wholly committed.
    And the panic passed, particularly since the Council of Safety refused to abandon the city—as the Congress had—and remained in session, seriously considering every request from the army, no matter how unlikely it was that they could ever fulfill it. As for example the following plea from General Lord