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Two missions of military intelligence collection, both of which came to a climax on 30 December 1776, contributed to the Continental Army's victory in the Battle of Princeton. ==Joseph Reed and the Philadelphia Light Horse== The "obscure and doubtful" intelligence on which General Washington had to base his next action frustrated him after a decisive victory in the Battle of Trenton.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 Washington observed to Adjutant-General Joseph Reed that the strength of the British in the area had greatly discouraged spies for the revolution;〔Reed's Narrative p.399〕 Reed had the same opinion, having himself encountered the "poor" and "terrified" inhabitants of Bordentown only days before. Red rags hung from almost every house door in expression of Tory sympathies; homeowners were hastily tearing them down in accordance with the clear turn of events. Reed considered the residents "effectually broken and hardly resembling what they had been a few months before." 〔Reed’s Narrative p.397〕 Reed was a New Jersey native, and proposed to Washington that he lead a group of cavalrymen from the Philadelphia Light Horse toward Princeton to enlist spies. The Philadelphia Light Horse was a group of twenty-one wealthy young men that volunteered its service to General Washington. They paid their own expenses, and, unlike most Continental troops, were gentlemen. The Light Horse wore chocolate brown uniforms, high-topped riding boots, and black hats with silver cords and bucktails. David Hackett-Fischer speculates that ragged Continental infantrymen jeered them as they approached Trenton on matched chestnut horses.〔Fischer p.279〕 Washington approved the mission, and sent Reed with seven cavalrymen.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 The residents on the road to Princeton, however, were afraid. In Reed's words, the "arms and ravages of the enemy" had terrified the population; though they were "otherwise well disposed," no reward could tempt them to go into Princeton on a mission of espionage.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 Stories of captured revolutionaries who were starving in the prison hulls of New York, along with more immediate accounts of British plunder and rape in New Jersey, were doubtlessly a strong deterrent to participation in the cause of the Continental Army.〔Solis p.13〕 Reed and his men were determined to return with valuable information. Expecting that the rear of Princeton would be poorly guarded, they circled the town.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 They were about a half-mile southeast of Clarksville,〔Life and Correspondence p.283〕 almost in view of Princeton itself, when they spotted a British soldier walking between a barn and a house. Reed assumed he was looting, and sent two cavalrymen to take him prisoner.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 The Light Horsemen kept the barn between themselves and the house to approach closely without being noticed.〔Life and Correspondence p.283〕 A second and third soldier appeared as they rode, and Reed ordered the rest of his men to charge.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399〕 As things worked out, Reed's men were outnumbered, but they were also in the right place at the right time. Most of the twelve British soldiers were busy "conquering a parcel of mince pies" as the Light Horse surrounded the house.〔Fischer p.280〕 Seven cavalrymen, six of whom had "never before seen an enemy," thus forced the surrender of twelve well-armed British dragoons.〔Reed’s Narrative p.399-400〕 Reed and the Light Horse returned to Trenton with their captives mounted behind, probably to a much different reception by Continental infantrymen.〔Fischer p.280〕 The prisoners were separately interrogated, and revealed that General Grant had reinforced British troops at Princeton, that the force assembled there comprised over 8,000 trained soldiers, and that the British intended to advance on Trenton. This was critical intelligence; at the time, Washington commanded only 4,700 men, many of whom were new recruits, and all of whom were poorly equipped.〔First Troop p.9〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Intelligence in the Battle of Princeton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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