faced with an impending British attack, Washington surveyed his undisciplined army. he asked his aide: "General Howe is rumored to have more than 30,000 men in the Navy assembled offshore, and 20,000 on Staten Island. And we have...?"
His aide was reluctant to reply. "Ten thousand."
the number was a blow to Washington, but he did not show it. ever the HEROIC STOIC, he refused to go into despair. Washington was famed as a man who never lost his nerve in battle. the sound of musket fire, the crash of cannonballs, the smell of smoke...none of it shakes Washington's calm, measured way of surveying the chaos and keeping his wits about him as he led his men forward. using his wits, he quickly discovered he had to establish a spy ring to gain an advantage over the brits, because his army was rough around the edges to say the least (it was made up of city men who had never held rifle and country folks who never went a day to school)
