produce, especially in military transactions, the most disastrous
effects. The officers who advised this measure were Lord Stirling,
Generals Wayne, Scott, and Woodford. The considerations urged upon
Washington in its support were: That the army was now in greater force
than he could expect it to be at any future time; that being joined by
the troops who had conquered Burgoyne, his own reputation, the
reputation of his army, the opinion of Congress and of the nation
required some decisive blow on his part; and that the rapid
depreciation of the paper currency, by which the resources for carrying
on the war were dried up, rendered indispensable some grand effort to
bring it to a speedy termination.

Washington reconnoitered the enemy's lines with great care and took
into serious consideration the plan of attack proposed. The plan
proposed was that General Greene should embark 2,000 men at Dunks'
ferry, and descending the Delaware in the night land in the town just
before day, attack the enemy in the rear, and take possession of the
bridge over the Schuylkill; that a strong corps should march down on
the west side of that river, occupy the heights enfilading the works of
the enemy, and open a brisk cannonade upon them, while a detachment
from it should march down to the bridge and attack in front at the same
instant that the party descending the river should commence its assault
on the rear.

Not only the Commander-in-Chief, but some of his best officers--those
who could not be impelled by the clamors of the ill-informed to ruin
the public interests--were opposed to this mad enterprise. The two
armies, they said, were now nearly equal in point of numbers, and the
detachment under Lord Cornwallis could not be supposed to have so
weakened Sir William Howe as to compensate for the advantages of his