t any time. Some one asked
Washington what he would do were Philadelphia to be taken. He answered,
'We will retreat beyond the Susquehanna River, and thence, if necessary,
to the Alleghany Mountains.' Doubtless he was even then planning the
masterly movements of his forces that presently drove the enemy from
Trenton and Princeton."

"Didn't the people of Philadelphia try to be ready to defend themselves
and their city, mamma?" asked Walter.

"Yes," she replied; "Congress gave the command there, with almost
unlimited power, to General Putnam; then appointing a committee of three
to act for them, they adjourned to reassemble at Baltimore.

"In the meantime Washington was getting ready for the striking of his
intended blows in New Jersey.

"It would seem that General Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British
forces, had planned to despatch Cornwallis up the Hudson to the
assistance of Burgoyne, who was about to invade our country from Canada.
But Cornwallis had a strong desire to capture Philadelphia, and
probably no doubt that he could do so if allowed to carry out his plans,
and to that Howe consented.

"Cornwallis showed but little skill in the arrangement of his forces,
scattering them here and there in detachments from New Brunswick to the
Delaware and down that stream to a point below Burlington. His military
stores, and his strongest detachment, were at New Brunswick. The last
consisting of a troop of light horse with about fifteen hundred
Hessians.

"Washington decided to surprise those troops while at the same time
Generals Ewing and Cadwalader, with the Pennsylvania militia, were
directed to attack the posts at Bordentown, Black Horse, Burlington, and
Mount Holly. Cadwalader was to cross near Bristol, Ewing below Trenton
falls, while Washington, with Generals Greene and Sullivan, and Colonel
Knox of the artillery, was to lead the main body of Continental troops
and cross the Delaware at M'Conkey's Ferry.

"Washington was very anxious to save Philadelphia, which Cornwallis was
aiming to capture, and felt sure of taking without any great difficulty,
after crossing the Delaware, since he had heard that the people there
were for the king almost to a man. So sure was he indeed that the
victory would be an easy one that he had gone back to his headquarters
in New York and prepared to return to England.

"Putnam, in Philadelphia, had heard of Washington's intended attack upon
the British at Trenton, and to a