The supreme moment for the patriot cause was now at hand. In the
middle of August, word came from De Grasse that he was headed with
his whole fleet for Chesapeake Bay.

As might be expected, Washington was equal to the occasion. The
capture of New York must wait. He made up his mind that he would
swoop down with his army upon Yorktown, four hundred miles away, and
crush Cornwallis.

{127} Yes, but what about Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in
chief in New York? If Sir Henry should happen to get an inkling of
what Washington intended to do, what would prevent his sending an
army by sea to the relief of Yorktown?

Nothing, of course, and so the all-important point was to hoodwink
the British commander. It was cleverly done, as we shall see.

Clinton knew that the French fleet was expected; but everything
pointed to an attack on New York.

If we glance at the map of this section, we shall see that, from his
headquarters at West Point, Washington could march half way to
Yorktown, by way of New Jersey, without arousing suspicions of his
real design.

Nobody but Rochambeau had the least knowledge of what he intended to
do. Bodies of troops were moved toward Long Island. Ovens were built
as if to bake bread for a large army. The patriots seemed merely to
be waiting for the French fleet before beginning in earnest the siege
of New York.

Washington wrote a letter to Lafayette which was purposely sent in
such a way as to be captured by Clinton. In this letter, the American
general said he should be {128} happy if Cornwallis fortified
Yorktown or Old Point Comfort, because in that case he would remain
under the protection of the British fleet.

Washington wrote similar letters to throw Clinton off his guard. For
instance, to one of his generals he wrote in detail just how he had
planned to lay siege to New York. He selected a young minister, by
the name of Montaigne, to carry the dispatch to Morristown, through
what was called the Clove.

"If I go through the Clove," said Montaigne, "the cowboys will
capture me."

"Your duty, young man, is to obey," sternly replied Washington.

The hope of the ever-alert commander in chief was fulfilled, for the
young clergyman soon found himself a prisoner in the famous Sugar
House, in New York. The next day, the dispatch was printed with great
show in Rivington's Tory paper.

On August 19, or just five days after receiving the dispatch from De
Grasse, Washington cro