delayed at Princeton was of great
advantage to the Continental forces, and by midnight they had come to
the end of their eighteen-mile march, to their great rejoicing, as it
had been a terrible walk over snow and ice and in such bitter cold
that many a finger and ear were frozen, and all had suffered severely.
The men had not had a meal for twenty-four hours, had made the long
march on top of heavy fighting, and when they reached their
destination they were so exhausted that the moment they halted they
dropped and fell into a heavy sleep.

While they were marching toward Morristown, Lord Cornwallis was
rushing his troops on to New Brunswick to save the supplies which the
British had stored there. To his great relief he found them untouched,
so he gave up the pursuit of Washington's fleeing forces, and the
Continental army, without resistance, went into winter quarters at
Morristown, as their Commander had planned to do. While John Hays,
with the American army, was following his Commander, Molly, at the
farm, had become the proud mother of a son, who was named John Hays,
Jr., and who became Molly's greatest comfort in the long months when
she had no glimpse or tidings of her husband. Then came news--General
Washington's troops were again on the march, passing through New
Jersey toward New York. There would be a chance to see her husband,
and Molly determined to take it, whatever risk or hardship it might
entail, for not only did she long to see Hays, but she could not wait
longer to tell him of the perfections of their son. And so Molly went
to the scene of the battle of Monmouth.

It was Sunday, the 28th of June, 1778, a day which has come down in
history, not only because of the battle which marks its date, but
because of its scorching heat. The mercury stood near the 100 mark,
and man and beast were well-nigh overcome.

History tells us that the British had remained at Philadelphia until
early in June, when they had evacuated that city and crossed the
Delaware River on June the eighteenth, with an intention to march
across New Jersey to New York. Having heard of this movement of the
British, General Washington, with a force nearly equal to that of the
enemy, also crossed into New Jersey, with the purpose of retarding the
British march and, if opportunity offered, bring on a general
engagement. By the 22d of June the whole of the American force was
massed on the east bank of the Delaware in a condition and position