But that was only
a blind. In the darkness Washington and his army quietly slipped
away to Princeton. There he fell upon the British reinforcements,
who were marching to join Cornwallis at Trenton, and put them to
flight.
When day came Cornwallis was astonished to find the American camp
empty. And when he heard the firing in the distance he knew what
had happened, and hastily retreated to New York, while Washington
drew off his victorious but weary men to Morristown in New Jersey.
Here for the next few months they remained, resting after their
labours, unmolested by the foe.
__________
Chapter 57 - Burgoyne's Campaign - Bennington and Oriskany
As many of the Americans had foreseen, the British had from the
first formed the design of cutting the colonies in two by taking
possession of the great waterway from the Hudson to the St. Lawrence.
Their plans had been long delayed, but in the spring of 1777, they
determined to carry them out.
General Burgoyne was now in command of the Canadian troops. He was
a genial man of fashion, a writer of plays, and a great gambler.
But he was a brave soldier, too, and his men adored him. For in days
when it was common to treat the rank and file as a little better
than dogs, Burgoyne treated them like reasoning beings.
It was arranged that Burgoyne should move southward with his main
force, by way of Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, and that a smaller
force should go by Lake Ontario and seize Fort Stanwix.
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