Kings Pinnacle (24 page)

“Changing the subject back
to the attack tomorrow morning, Lieutenant Mackenzie, I want you to
take your men this morning and depart the camp as soon as possible.
First ride south for at least a mile along the Delaware River road.
Cross the river well south of the Trenton Ferry where no one will
see you cross. Then take up a concealed position at the Assunpink
Creek Bridge on the Bordentown Road south of Trenton. I want you to
cut off the enemy’s retreat to the south along the Bordentown Road.
Set your riflemen where they will do the most good. General James
Ewing will follow you after it is dark with seven hundred
militiamen. They will cross the river using the Trenton Ferry and
approach your position at the bridge from the north. He will
relieve you and your men as soon as he arrives at the bridge,”
continued General Washington.

“The password for this
attack is ‘Victory or Death’. From the time you arrive at the
bridge, let no man, woman, or animal pass over the bridge without
the correct password. Good luck and God grant us a victory,”
concluded General Washington as he stood up and held out his hand
to shake with Alex and Ellison.

“Sir, we will carry out your
orders,” said Alex as he and Ellison stood up, shook hands with
General Washington, and walked out of his tent.

* * * *

Samuel

As soon as Samuel left the
council of war meeting with General Washington, he immediately went
to work at his desk, taking care of the most pressing issues
associated with preparing for the attack. It was late in the
afternoon when the army was just beginning to leave camp that he
was able to free himself briefly from his duties and walk to the
camp followers’ tents.

As soon as he opened the
flap of the young woman’s tent, Molly immediately stood up and
started to disrobe.

“I don’t have time for that
right now and neither do you,” said Samuel to the young woman, who
immediately stopped disrobing and looked relieved.

“Put on your cloak and take
another message to Colonel Rahl from the Prophet immediately. Go
tell him that the Prophet says Washington is mounting a surprise
attack on his position in Trenton at first light tomorrow morning.
The colonel should be prepared for the attack from the north of
Trenton. I want you to leave right now and travel south out of the
camp. Cross the Delaware south of the Trenton Ferry because the
ferry will be guarded, and you can’t use it to cross. After you
cross the river, go east until you find the Bordentown Road. Travel
north on the road as it will lead you into Trenton. That way you
won’t be observed by any of Washington’s troops, who will be
deployed north of Trenton or guarding the ferry. Leave now while
it’s still light,” said Samuel.

“Yes, sir,” said
Molly.

Molly threw on her cloak and
hurried out of the tent to carry out her orders. When she walked
out of the tent, Samuel followed her out, turned in the opposite
direction, and hurried back into the army camp to complete the
remainder of his duties.

Molly walked south along the
west bank River Road out of the camp until she was almost a mile
south of the Trenton Ferry. Then she turned toward the river and
searched the western bank for a way across. She soon found a canoe
that a settler had tied up to a tree, so she untied it to paddle
across the Delaware River. She saw a number of fresh horse tracks
along the western bank, where it looked like a number of riders had
ridden their horses into the water and swum them across the river.
When she reached the eastern bank, she pulled the canoe up as far
as she could on the bank. She then walked east until she found the
Bordentown Road and followed it north toward Trenton.

By the time she approached
Trenton, it was fully dark and the cold weather had taken a turn
for the worse. There was a cold rain falling that looked like it
would turn to sleet as soon as the falling temperature got low
enough. Molly shrugged at her fate and pulled her cloak tighter
around her neck as she walked north on the Bordentown Road toward
Trenton. As soon as she got near the Assunpink Creek Bridge, a
voice called out in the dark.

“Halt! Who goes there?” said
the bodiless voice.

“It’s just me going into
Trenton,” replied the startled Molly as she stopped walking and
looked around to see if she could tell where the voice was coming
from. But she couldn’t see anyone in the dark.

“
What’s the password?”
asked the voice.

The girl was flustered; she
had no idea what the password was and why someone was even asking.
She thought that the voice asking her questions might be coming
from one of the Hessian or British troops who had been assigned
guard duty at the bridge. So, she replied with the only thing that
came to mind.

“I have a message from the
Prophet,” said Molly.

Alex stepped out of the
darkness to stand right behind her. As she turned to look at him,
he reached out his hand and grasped her by her arm.

“Who is the Prophet?” asked
Alex.

* * * *

Robert and Hugh

“
Weel, it looks like a wee
bit o’ winter blowing in now,” said Hugh grinning at
Robert.

The weather had in fact gone
from bad to much worse. The temperature was now below freezing, and
it was beginning to sleet. The cold rain that had fallen earlier in
the evening had now caused everything to be covered with a thin
coat of ice under the sleet that was beginning to pile up on the
ground. Conditions couldn’t be more miserable for being outside in
the weather.

Robert glanced at Hugh and
then turned back to look where he was going. Robert and Hugh were
marching at the head of the Second Mass toward a rally point about
nine miles north of Trenton, where they would be ferried across the
Delaware River. It was dark, and they were supposed to be across
the river by midnight. But the foul weather had slowed the march,
and they were behind schedule.

When they arrived at the
Delaware River crossing point, the boats that were supposed to
carry them across were nowhere in sight. General Washington
dispatched riders to locate the boats, which were soon found a
short distance up river. By the time they got the boats in
position, they were even further behind schedule.

Robert and Hugh huddled with
the rest of the men waiting to board the boats for the short trip
across the river. When they finally received the command to board
the barges, Robert and Hugh were among the last on board the first
barge and helped the boatmen push it off into the river.

“I always love a boat ride
in the winter,” joked Hugh as a large ice flow bumped into their
barge and almost capsized it.

The men in the boat, who at
first laughed softly at Hugh’s joke, now were quiet and worried
about the crossing. The boat ride was brief and cold, but they made
it safely across the river. Finally, by four o’clock in the morning
on the day after Christmas, all the troops were across the river
and on their way to attack the Hessians in Trenton. The Continental
Army was marching northeast from the river, fighting the cold wind
blowing from the north. The earlier sleet had now turned into a
snow as the temperature continued to drop. The ground was slippery
but at least it was level. Some of the men didn’t have boots or
shoes and had wrapped and tied their feet in rags and strips of
blankets. Their feet soon suffered frostbite and began to bleed,
leaving a dark red blood trail in the snow.

After about two miles of
marching, they found the River Road that runs south past Bear
Tavern into Trenton, so the army wheeled right and marched along
the River Road south. They were able to make better time toward
Trenton on the road and arrived a few miles north of Trenton before
it was fully light. At this point, the army was split into two
groups. One group turned east to follow a trail to locate the
Pennington Road and then follow it south into Trenton. The other
group, commanded by General Sullivan, continued along the River
Road directly south toward Trenton.

Robert and Hugh were at the
front of the group of men that included Big Mike Finn and that had
traveled east toward the Pennington Road. They located the
Pennington Road and the army turned south to follow it into
Trenton. They were among the first to encounter the enemy. The
Second Mass commander had asked Robert and Hugh to lead the army
because they were the best fighters and bravest men in the militia.
Just as the rising sun was peeking above the trees, the patriots
arrived at a Hessian outpost set up in a cooper’s shop one mile
north of Trenton. The Hessian commander of the outpost walked
outside to see what was making all the noise coming down the road
so early in the morning. When the commander walked out into the
road and turned to look at the advancing army, Hugh dropped down on
to one knee, raised his rifle to his shoulder and fired a musket
ball into the officer’s chest, dropping him dead into the middle of
the road.

“That will tell ‘em what
we’re about,” said Hugh.

The Hessian troops in the
outpost returned fire, but there were too many Americans. Soon the
Hessian began to retreat, stopping to fire occasionally as they
fell back toward Trenton. Robert and Hugh had developed a fighting
system where Hugh would advance and fire while Robert reloaded, and
then Robert would advance and fire while Hugh reloaded. They
employed this leap frog tactic all the way to Trenton, firing at
the retreating Hessians.

When they arrived at the
first houses of Trenton proper, they formed up their units to make
their final assault on the main body of the Hessian troops in
Trenton.

* * * *

Alex

“
Please sir, you must let
me go,” the girl had cried, gently sobbing.

“No one will harm you,” said
Alex.

“Sir, you must let me go. If
I don’t get into Trenton, my sister will die,” said Molly between
sobs.

Alex didn’t really know what
to make of the situation, and he had no idea what the girl was
talking about. He had never seen the girl before. So he had led her
by the arm back down the Bordentown Road away from Trenton. They
walked off the road into a small depression behind a copse, where
the men had built a small sheltered fire that could not be seen
from the road. The men in Alex’s unit, including the Longhunter,
were rotating the watch on the bridge. Those that were off duty
were warming themselves by the fire, drinking hot tea, or trying to
get some sleep. When Alex walked up with the girl in hand, the men
all stood up to look at them.

“Could you men give us a
minute?” asked Alex, indicating that he wanted to talk to the girl
alone.

“We’ll scout up and down the
road,” replied the Longhunter as the grabbed his rifle.

The other men nodded and
walked off toward the bridge to join the watch or to go with the
Longhunter. Alex poured the girl a cup of hot tea and sat her down
on one of the saddles near the fire so that she could warm herself
on this cold, windy night. After the girl drank some of the tea and
composed herself, Alex sat down on a saddle next to her.

“What’s your name?” asked
Alex.

The young woman just sat
silently looking down.

“You’re going to stay here
until you talk to me. Again, who or what is the Prophet?” asked
Alex.

“I can’t tell you,
sir.”

“
Why can’t you tell
me?”

“Because if I tell you, my
sister will be killed.”

“Why were you going to
Trenton?”

“I can’t tell you,
sir.”

“I know, if you do, your
sister will be killed, right?”

“Yes, sir,” said the girl,
looking down.

“
What was the message that
you are supposed to deliver?”

Molly remained silent and
Alex let the silence draw out in hopes that she would reconsider,
but after repeated questioning, it soon was apparent that the girl
was not going to talk.

“Look, Miss, I want to help
you, really I do, but I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what is
going on,” said Alex, pausing to see if that had any effect on the
girl.

“If you tell me the whole
story, I promise that I will help you and your sister out of any
situation that you and she have gotten into,” continued
Alex.

Alex tried to get the girl
to talk to him for another two hours, but Molly refused to speak
another word. Her silence was frustrating, but in the end Alex had
no choice, so he let her go. He did not allow her to go into
Trenton, but turned her back the way she had come.

As soon as she was free from
Alex, Molly hurried down the Bordentown Road to where she had
intercepted it a few hours earlier. From there she turned and
walked west toward the river. It did not take her long to find the
canoe that she had pulled up on the bank.

It was bitterly cold and the
snow made it difficult, but she finally managed to launch the canoe
and paddle it across the river. She tied the canoe back up to the
tree where she thought she had found it. Pulling her cloak up
tighter around her shoulders, she marched through the snow back to
the army camp and into her tent. She crawled into her cot and under
the blankets without taking her cloak off and cried herself to
sleep.