and other occasions; and received the thanks of general Washington, whose confidence and regard he uniformly enjoyed. When general Washington determined to attack the British and Hessian troops at Trenton, he assigned him the command of a division. In the evening of Christmas day, 1776, general Washington made arrangements to pass the river Delaware, in three divisions: one, consisting of 500 men, under general Cadwalader, from the vicinity of Bristol; a second division, under the command of general Irvine, was to cross at Trenton ferry, and secure the bridge leading to the town. Generals Cadwalader and Irvine made every exertion to get over, but the quantity of ice was so great, that they could not effect their purpose. The third, and main body, which was commanded by general Washington, crossed at M'Konkey's ferry; but the ice in the river retarded their passage so long, that it was three o'clock in the morning before the artillery could be got over. On their landing in Jersey, they were formed into two divisions, commanded by generals Sullivan and Greene, who had under their command brigadiers lord Sterling, Mercer, and St. Clair: one of these divisions was ordered to proceed on the lower, or river road, the other on the upper or Pennington road. Colonel Stark, with some light troops, was also directed to advance near to the river, and to possess himself of that part of the town, which is beyond the bridge. The divisions having nearly the same distance to march, were ordered immediately on forcing the outguards, to push directly into Trenton, that they might charge the enemy before they had time to form. Though they marched different roads, yet they arrived at the enemy's advanced post within three minutes of each other. The out-guards of the Hessian troops at Trenton soon fell back, but kept up a constant retreating fire. Their main body being hard pressed by the Americans, who had already got possession of half their artillery, attempted to file off by a road leading towards Princeton, but were checked by a body of troops thrown in their way. Finding they were surrounded, they laid down their arms. The number which submitted, was twenty-three officers, and eight hundred and eighty-six men. Between thirty and forty of the Hessians were killed and wounded. Colonel Rahl was among the former, and seven of his officers among the latter. Captain Washington, of the Virginia troops, and five or six of the Americans were wounded. Two were killed, and two or three were frozen to death. The detachment in Trenton, consisting of the regiments of Rahl, Losberg and Kniphausen, amounting in the whole to about fifteen hundred men, and a troop of British light horse. these were killed or captured, except about six hundred, who escaped by the road leading to Bordentown. The British had a strong battalion of light infantry at Princeton, and a force yet remaining near the Delaware, superior to the American army. General Washington, therefore, in the evening of the same day, thought it most prudent to recross into Pennsylvania, with his prisoners. The next day after Washington's return, supposing him still on the Jersey side, general Cadwalader crossed with about fifteen hundred men, and pursued the panic struck enemy to Burlington, The merits and services of general Cadwalader, induced the congress, early in 1778, to compliment him by an unanimous vote, with the appointment of general of cavalry; which appointment he declined, under an impression that he could be more useful to his country in the sphere in which he had been acting. The victory at Trenton had a most happy effect, and general Washington, finding himself at the head of a force with which it was practicable to attempt something, resolved not to remain inactive. Inferior as he was to the enemy, he yet determined to employ the winter in endeavoring to recover the whole, or a great part of Jersey. The enemy were now collected in force at Princeton, under lord Cornwallis, where some works were thrown up. Generals Mifflin and Cadwalader, who lay at Bordentown and Crosswicks, with three thousand six hundred militia, were ordered to march up in the night of the first January, 1777, to join the commander in chief, whose whole force, with this addition, did not exceed five thousand men. He formed the bold and judicious design of abandoning the Delaware, and marching silently in the night by a circuitous route, along the left flank of the enemy, into their rear at Princeton, where he knew they could not be very strong. He reached Princeton early in the morning of the third, and would have completely surprised the British, had not a party, which was on their way to Trenton, descried his troops, when they were about two miles distant, and sent back couriers to alarm their fellow soldiers in the rear. A sharp action ensued, which however was not of long duration. The militia, of which the advanced party was principally composed, soon gave way. General Mercer was mortally wounded while exerting himself to rally his broken troops. The moment was critical. General Washington pushed forward, and placed himself between his own men and the British, with his horse's head fronting the latter. The Americans, encouraged by his example, made a stand, and returned the British fire. A party of the British fled into the college, and were attacked with field pieces. After receiving a few discharges they came out and surrendered them selves prisoners of war. In this action upwards of one hundred of the enemy were killed on the spot, and three hundred taken prisoners. The Americans lost only a few, but colonels Haslet and Potter, two brave and valuable officers, from Delaware and Pennsylvania, were among the slain. General Cadwalader's celebrated duel with general Conway, arose from his spirited opposition to the intrigues of that officer, to undermine the standing of the commander in chief. The anecdote relative to the duel, in "Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War," by Alexander Garden, of Charleston, South Carolina, is not entirely correct. It will be recollected that general Conway was dangerously wounded, and while his recovery was doubtful, he addressed a letter to general Washington, acknowledging that he had done him injustice. Among many obituary notices of general Cadwalader, this patriotic and exemplary man, the following outline of his character, in the form of a monumental inscription, is selected from a Baltimore paper, of the 24th of February, 1786: In memory of General John Cadwalader, In the character of a Soldier and Statesman: He took an active part, and had a principal And, although he was zealous in the cause. His conduct was not mark'd with the He always treated with singular tenderness, And few, very few equals: CASWELL, RICHARD. governor of North Carolina, received an education suitable for the bar, and was uniformly distinguished as a friend to the rights of mankind. He possessed a sensibility, which impelled him to relieve the distress, which he witnessed. Whenever oppressed indigence called for his professional assistance, he afforded it without the hope of any other reward, than the consciousness of hav ing exerted himself to promote the happiness of a fellow man. Warmly attached to the liberties of his country, he was appointed a member of the first congress, in 1774, and he early took arms in resistance to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. He was at the head of a regiment in 1776, when it became necessary to oppose a body of loyalists composed of a number of the ignorant and disorderly inhabitants of the frontiers, styling themselves regulators, and of emigrants from the highlands of Scotland. This party of about fifteen hundred men was collected in the middle of February, under general M'Donald. He was pursued by general Moore, and on the 27th he found himself under the necessity of engaging colonel Caswell, who was intrenched with about a thousand minute men and militia, directly in his front, at a place called Moore's creek-bridge.. This was about sixteen miles distant from Wilmington, where M'Donald hoped to join general Clinton. But he was defeated and taken prisoner by Caswell, with the loss of seventy men in killed and wounded, and fifteen hundred excellent rifles. This victory was of eminent service to the American cause in North Carolina. Mr. Caswell was president of the convention, which formed the constitution of North Carolina, in December, 1776, under which constitution he was governor from April, 1777, to the year 1780, and from 1785, to 1787. At the time of his death he was president of the senate, and for a number of years he had held the commission of major general. He died at Fayetteville, November 20, 1789. In his character the public and domestic virtues were united. Ever honoured with some marks of the approbation of his fellow citizens, he watched with unremitted attention over the welfare of the community, and anxiously endeavoured also to promote the felicity of its members in their separate interests. While the complacency of his disposition and his equal temper peculiarly endeared him to his friends, they commanded respect even from his enemies. CHAMPE, JOHN, was a native of Loudon county, Virginia. In the year 1776, at the age of twenty-four, he entered the revolutionary army, and was appointed a sergeant major in Lee's legion of cavalry. After the detection of Arnold's treason, and the capture of major Andre, the commander in chief received frequent intelligence that many American officers, and one brigadier general, high in his confidence, were implicated in the guilt of that conspiracy. He consulted with major Lec on the subject, submitted to his inspection the papers detailing this alarming intelligence, and desired his opinion on the subject. Major Lee endeavored to calm his apprehensions, and represented this, as an artifice which the British general had adopted to weaken the confidence of the commander in chief in his subordinate officers, and to sow the seeds of discord in the American camp. Washington observed, that the same thought had occurred to him: but as these remarks applied with equal force to Arnold before his desertion. he was determined on probing this matter to the bottom. He proceeded to say, that what he had then to communicate was a subject of high delicacy, and entire confidence. He wished major Lee to recommend some bold and enterprising individual from the legion he commanded, who should proceed on that very night to the enemy's camp, in the character of a deserter. He was to make himself known to one or two of Washington's confidential agents in New-York, to obtain, through their means, the most authentic evidence of the innocence or guilt of the American officers suspected, and transmit the result to major Lee. Another part of his project was to seize the traitor and to bring him alive to the American camp; but the orders were positive not to put him to death, and to suffer him to escape, if he could not be taken by any other means. His public punishment was all that Washington desired. He flattered himself that by Arnold's arrest he would be enabled to unravel this conspiracy, and save the life of the unfortunate Andre. When major Lee sounded Champe on this business, the heroic serjeant replied, that if any means could be devised by which he could testify his devotion to his country, and his attachment to his commander in chief, compatible with honor, he would cheerfully endure any personal risk: but his soul abhorred the thoughts of desertion. Major Lee with much difficulty succeeded in convincing him, that in no other way could he render so important a service to his country, and he was at last prevailed upon to undertake this hazardous service. After being furnished with his instructions, which he hastily took down in a character, or rather cipher of his own, (for he was not permitted to carry written orders,) his difficulty was to pass the American lines. The major was unable to promise him any protection, as this would seem to countenance the plot, and to favor the desertion of others, and the enemy might moreover, obtain intelligence by that means, discover and defeat his object, and he himself suffer the ignominious death of a spy. The serjeant at length |