Page:Tomlinson--The rider of the black horse.djvu/23

Rh do, would be to conquer either part at their leisure.

The plan certainly was one that promised well, and Washington's energies were at once directed toward an effort to hold the redcoats in or near New York and prevent them from going up the Hudson to the aid of their northern army, while Howe, Clinton, and Cornwallis were equally busy in striving to accomplish a similar result among their enemies. The early summer of 1777 accordingly became a time when the men of either side were tested as they seldom were throughout the eight weary years of the struggle for American independence.

It became, therefore, of the utmost importance to Washington to know how it fared in the north, and "expresses" were provided,—men who rode swiftly from one American post to the one that was nearest it, and there delivered their missive or message to their waiting successors, who in turn rode swiftly to the next point in the line, while the others retraversed their way with a word from the opposite direction.

In addition to these "expresses," however, Washington was accustomed to make use of certain trusty men who were to go directly from the army in Jersey to the forts on the