The Crossing

A strange & eerie fog of which the likes no one had ever seen or encountered before, moved steadily across the shoreline blanketing the entire west end of the island.

As if the situation was not grim enough, now untimely, inclement weather would add its paralyzing insult to injury in the final fleeting hours of this harrowing conflict.

Heavy winds & rain promptly ensued.

It was now only a matter of time, as the opposition carefully surrounded its prey, fully realizing it was not only severely weakened, but pinned, with no means of escape.

Was this the end?

Surely years of unspeakeable torment & sacrifice had not been endured in vain, only to be lost in this most desperate of hours.

Darkness soon fell on the remaining forces as their leadership assembled to ruminate any possible hope of survival.

Though it was a long shot & not without enormous risk, an idea was suggested that just maybe, this strange & unseasonal weather might possibly be used to their advantage.

And so a plan was hatched.

It would be so secretive that even those directly affected were not told of their destination.

With dense fog as their cloak, punishing rain as a convenient sound barrier, & high winds restraining enemy transports, the mother of all evacuations began.

All through the night, small life boats ferried back & forth moving more than 9,000 troops, tents, artillery, & supplies safely across the river.

By late morning, August 30th, the fog had lifted, the rain had ceased, & the winds subsided.

Warships quickly moved in as orders were dispatched to "Finish the job!".

Soon General Howe arrived on the battlefront. It was there he became shocked & enraged to find his prey to be nowhere in sight.

How could this be?

Any attempt of escape in the night would have easily been detected by the finest naval armada in the world!

Nevertheless, a golden opportunity had slipped through the general's fingers to crush this rebellion once & for all.

And so, a rag-tag assembly of mostly farmers, untrained in the art of modern warfare, & led by General George Washington, survived the battle of Long Island in 1776 & kept their costly dreams of an American Revolution alive.

Who says God isn't on our side? :0)