The death wound is already given.
The day is ours if we follow it up. The enemy, by his situation, is
within our reach, and by his reduced strength is within our power. The
ministers of Britain may rage as they please, but our part is to
conquer their armies. Let them wrangle and welcome, but let, it not
draw our attention from the one thing needful. Here, in this spot is
our own business to be accomplished, our felicity secured. What we
have now to do is as clear as light, and the way to do it is as
straight as a line. It needs not to be commented upon, yet, in order
to be perfectly understood I will put a case that cannot admit of a
mistake.
Had the armies under Generals Howe and Burgoyne been united, and
taken post at Germantown, and had the northern army under General
Gates been joined to that under General Washington, at Whitemarsh, the
consequence would have been a general action; and if in that action we
had killed and taken the same number of officers and men, that is,
between nine and ten thousand, with the same quantity of artillery,
arms, stores, etc., as have been taken at the northward, and obliged
General Howe with the remains of his army, that is, with the same
number he now commands, to take shelter in Philadelphia, we should
certainly have thought ourselves the greatest heroes in the world; and
should, as soon as the season permitted, have collected together all
the force of the continent and laid siege to the city, for it requires
a much greater force to besiege an enemy in a town than to defeat
him in the field.
Pages:
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124