Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory by William R. Forstchen, Newt Gingrich, Albert S. Hanser Read Free Book Online Page A

said that Gentleman Johnny never again ventured anywhere near the forward trenches during the final siege at Saratoga.
    He almost regretted sending that taunt. He ruefully thought that he might otherwise have been able to get his vengeance after all.
    With the victory at Saratoga, created in large part by his old comrade Benedict Arnold, he assumed the war was nearly over. His men were ordered to rejoin Washington; their triumphal march down the Hudson Valley, into New Jersey, and across Pennsylvania turned somber when they received word of the disasters afflicting Washington and his command. Howe had finally stirred from New York City. Rather than go north to link up with the beleaguered Burgoyne, as everyone assumed he would, he took a ship with nearly his entire force, leaving only a small garrison to hold New York City. Sailing south as far as Chesapeake Bay, then north, he disembarked near Wilmington, then maneuvered to seize Philadelphia, the capital of the newly proclaimed United States. To the British way of thinking, when an enemy capital fell, the war was decidedly over. Disaster had befallen Washington at the Battle of Brandywine, and repeatedly throughout the autumn.
    Congress abandoned Philadelphia and fled to Lancaster. Frightened that the British would launch a surprise attack and capture them, they finally ran to the far bank of the Susquehanna at York while Washington’s army staggered northward to what was supposed to be their retreat position at Valley Forge. Some had described it as a march into oblivion.
    Now Morgan had been tasked by Washington to bring his men down the river to support Major Clark with his spying efforts; to harass, observe, and provide warning if the enemy should bestir themselves from the comfort of their winter quarters.
    As he waited for his target to reappear, he glanced over his shoulder. Thirtyor so yards back, half a dozen of his men were concealed in a cave dug into the side of a creek bed. Someone had most likely dug it out as a hiding place for what was left of his livestock.
    He whistled softly. As if on cue, a bare head popped up; it was old Moses Wheeler. He was a disturbing sight for many. Twenty years ago, Moses had been taken prisoner by the Shawnee and made a source of entertainment. They had scalped him while he was still alive, along with the usual practice of slow roasting his feet. He endured it without a whimper, taunting his “hosts” to try their best, that surely they could do better. Impressed by his stoic fortitude, the torture was stopped and he was offered adoption into the tribe. Considering the alternative, he readily agreed and later said he actually came to like his new family, but with the return of spring the next year he decided to end the adoption and get out.
    Moses could not tolerate a hat. Even in the dead of winter, he claimed it caused his skull to ache. Now that it was free of any covering, the sight of his mangled, hairless crown made many living east of the mountains decide that venturing westward was something they would no longer consider.
    Moses crawled up out of the creek bed and hobbled forward. His toes had been burned off, so he had learned to walk again with a strange bearlike shuffle. He crawled the last few feet to Dan’s side and settled in.
    As Moses moved in beside him, the cavalcade reappeared, riding slowly along the road, out in the open between the house and barn.
    “Can you see that son of a bitch on the road?”
    Moses squinted and then smiled, spitting as he offered a chew of tobacco to Dan. He gladly accepted the thick, solid cake, took a bite, and handed it back.
    “Think one of ’em’s Howe.”
    In spite of his infirmities, Moses had the best eyes of any man in his detachment. Vanity forbade Dan to admit that he feared his own eyes were beginning to fail a bit.
    “What do you think, Moses?”
    Moses studied them for a moment using Clark’s telescope. The cavalcade had stopped. Moses lowered the telescope,