What Did You Say?

The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence paid a tremendous price for our freedom. 5 were arrested by the British as traitors. 12 had their houses looted and burned by the enemy, 17 lost their fortunes, 2 lost sons in the Continental Army and 9 fought and died during the revolutionary War

On August 27, 1776, British General Howe had trapped General Washington and his 8,000 troops on Brooklyn Heights, Long Island, intending to advance the nest morning to crush them. In a desperate move, Washington gathered every vessel, from fishing boats to row boats, and spent all night ferrying his army across the East River. When the morning came, there was still a large number of his troops dangerously exposed to the British, but in a most unusual change in weather, the fog did not lift from the river. It stayed thick, covering Washington’s retreat until the entire army had evacuated and escaped! Never again did the British have such a rare chance of winning the war. Major Ben Tallmadge, who was Washington’s Chief of Intelligence, wrote of that morning.

“As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and when the dawn appeared there were several regiments still on duty. At this time a very dense fog began to rise [out of the ground and off the river], and so very dense was the atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards distance…..we tarried until the sun had risen, but the fog remained as dense as ever.”

 In the freezing winter of 1777, General George Washington was burdened with the lack of supplies for his troops camped at Valley Forge, and with the overwhelming superiority of the British forces. Soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day with many not even having blankets or shoes. The Commander-in-Chief himself, records the desperate state:

 “No history now extant can furnish an instance of an army’s suffering such uncommon hardship as ours has done and bearing them with the same patience and fortitude; To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lie on, without shoes for their feet)…and submitting without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”

A Committee from Congress reported “feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessaries amputate them..” Sights of bloody footprints in the snow and lack of food and shelter caused the Commander-in-Chief to seek divine assistant. The famous account of his resolution was given by Isaac Potts, who was General Washington’s temporary landlord at Valley Forge.

In 1777 while the American Army lay at Valley Forge, a good old Quaker by the name of Potts had occasion to pass through a thick woods near headquarters. As he traversed the dark brown forest, he heard, at a distance before him, a voice which as he advanced became more fervid and interested.

Approaching with slowness and circumspection, whom should he behold in a dark bower, apparently formed for this purpose, but the Commander-in-Chief of the armies of the United Colonies on his knees in the act of devotion to the Ruler of the Universe!

At the moment when Friend Potts, concealed by the trees, came up, Washington was interceding for his beloved country. With tones of gratitude that labored for adequate expression he adored that exuberant goodness which, from the depth of obscurity, had exalted him to the head of a great nation, and that nation fighting at fearful odds for all the world holds dear…

Soon as the General had finished his devotions and had retired, Friend Potts returned to his house and threw himself into a chair by the side of his wife. “Heigh! Isaac!” said she with tenderness, “thee seems agitated, what’s the matter?”

 “Indeed, my dear”, Quote he, “if I appear agitated ‘tis no more than what I am. I have seen this day what I shall never forget. Till now I have thought that a Christian and a soldier were characters incompatible, but if George Washington be not a man of God, I am mistaken, and still more shall I be disappointed if God does not through him perform some great thing for this country.”