THE MORNING OF June 28, 1778 dawned hot and muggy across central New Jersey with the promise of a sweltering afternoon. For days George Washington’s Continental Army had been dogging a massive British column of troops and wagons up the dusty roads from Philadelphia toward New York City, and as the sun rose, it appeared battle was finally imminent.
Private Joseph Plumb Martin was marching with the American vanguard.
“Now,” his commanding officer said, addressing the troops, “you have been wishing for some days past to come up with the British, you have been wanting to fight, – now you shall have fighting enough before night.”
Martin and his compatriots were ordered to leave their baggage behind with guards, maintaining only their blankets and provisions. The vanguard totalled some 5,000 hand-picked “selectmen” who represented the cream of the Continental Army. The fight they had been itching for now lay just down the road.
Despite the men’s fervour, command of the forward American units was hardly as sound. Originally, Washington offered command of the vanguard to General Charles Lee, a 46-year-old veteran of the French and Indian War. Lee instantly turned it down, thinking the position beneath him. Then, when the van was reinforced with more men, Lee changed his tune and immediately demanded the position less he be “disgrac’d.” Bowing to Lee’s seniority, Washington agreed to shoehorn him into command at the very last minute – a move that would leave the Continentals vulnerable should the British decide to turn and attack as the change of command was taking place.
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