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Posted by Tiger on January 28, 19100 at 14:55:29:
In Reply to: Horatio Gates posted by denisNee@aol.com on January 15, 19100 at 07:24:49:
Horatio Gates did NOT meet with Washington prior to Trenton, nor would such an acrimonious exchange ever have taken place between Washington and one of his generals. The idea that Washington would threaten one of his generals with being shot shows a lack of understanding as to how 'gentlemen' behaved in those days. While tempers would frequently flare (Washington cursed Lee out at Monmouth and Gates and Arnold exchanged insults at Saratoga),one didn't asperse another gentleman's character to his face without providing grounds for a duel. The scene in 'The Crossing' was a dramatic way of describing the lack of faith Gates and Lee had in Washington at that time and the later (after Saratoga in '78) scheming by Gates to supplant Washington as Commander-in-chief. Actually, during the Trenton campaign, it was Lee who ignored Washington's plea for help; Gates responded by sending four regiments to Washington just prior to the attack. But Gates himself did not join Washington. He pled illness and hurried to Philadelphia where he hung around Congress, positioning himself to take over if Washington's attack resulted in disaster--which seemed likely enough.