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By Frank R. Stockton
Originally published in 1896
There were a good many Tories in the State, and, as Honeyman had once been a British soldier, it was
easy enough for him to make believe that he was a
Tory, and so make friends with the Redcoats when he
should have an opportunity.
The plan concocted between Washington and Honeyman
was very carefully worked out in all its details.
Honeyman was to let it be known that he was a Tory,
and as soon as he thought it proper he was to leave
his family and join the British. It was considered
that the best thing he could do would be to engage
in business as a butcher, and then, when he went
over to the British, he could go about the country
in search of cattle, and thus get a good idea of what
was going on.
He was to stay with the enemy until he discovered
something important, and then he was to arrange matters
so that he should, apparently without knowing it,
wander near the American lines, where he would be
captured. It is said that Washington arranged, that,
as soon as he should hear that Honeyman had gone
over to the enemy, he would offer a reward for his
arrest; but this reward would be paid only in case the
supposed traitor should be carried alive and unhurt
to him. All this planning was necessary, because there
was so much communication between the Tories and
Whigs at that time, that, if it had been known on the
American side that Honeyman had gone over as a
spy, the fact would soon have been communicated to
the British.
Honeyman went over to the enemy, and started business
as a hiitcher for the army and after having gone
a good deal about the country looking for cattle, he
came to New Brunswick with the British army. Nobody
had suspected that he was not a perfectly honest
Tory, and he had been paying great attention to the
condition of the British army, and to finding out everything
which might be of use if reported to Washington.
Among other things, he discovered that the
British forces then occupying Trenton were not under
a strict state of discipline. It was winter; the weather
was cold ; apparently there was not much for them to
do; and discipline was in a rather lax state. Honeyman
well understood the habits of the Redcoats, and he
knew that during the holidays the soldiers would live
in even a more free and easy manner than they were
living then.
Not only did he make himself well acquainted with
the condition of the army, but he carefully studied
the town of Trenton and its neighborhood, and, going
about in every direction after cows and oxen, he learned
the roads so well that he could make a very good map
of them. Everything that could be of service to the
American cause was jotted down in Honeyman's retentive
memory; and when he had found out everything
that he could find out, he thought it was fully
time that he should acquaint Washington with the state
of affairs in the enemy's lines.
He knew that there were American pickets on the
Jersey side, some distance away ; and he started out
in this direction as a greasy butcher, with a rope in
one hand and a long whip in the other, looking for
all the world like John Honeyman the Tory cattle man, who, if he knew what was good for him, would
better keep out of sight of the soldiers of the American army. He walked a long distance down the river,
and, though he may have seen cattle, he paid no attention
to them. His present object was not to capture
anything and take it away, but to be captured
and taken away. After a time he saw at a
distance what he had been looking for. Behind
some bushes,
but still quite
plain to the eye
of this practiced soldier,
were two cavalrymen dismounted, and
Honeyman
knew that they
were Americans. He continued to walk
towards them
until he came
close to the spot where the two soldiers were standing.
The moment their eyes fell upon him, they recognized him,
and shouted to him to halt; but Honeyman was too good an actor to do that. If he wished
to carry on the business in hand, he must keep up
his character as a Tory, and so he took to his long
legs and ran like a deer. But the men jumped on
their horses and were after him in a moment; and as
horses' legs are a good deal better than human legs,
no matter how long they may be, the flying butcher
was soon overtaken. But even then he did not surrender, but so laid about him with his whip that he
kept the two men at bay. Of course, if they had
not known him, they would have shot him down; but
as Washington had issued a proclamation concerning
him, and had especially insisted that he should be
brought in alive, they did not wish to injure him.
But the unequal fight did not continue long, and
Honeyman was soon captured. The soldiers bound
his arms, and, mounting him behind one of them, so
carried him across the river to Washington's camp.
When Honeyman was brought into the presence
of the commander in chief, he pretended to be very
much frightened; and he would have been excusable
if he had been really frightened, for in that little
performance of his he had run a great many risks.
After asking a few questions of this pretended traitor
Washington told the guards to withdraw, and he had
a private conference which lasted over half an hour;
and in that time it is probable that these two men
did a great deal of talking. The information given
was most valuable, and such as could have been furnished
only by a man of extraordinary powers of
observation.
This Web version, edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
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