He does not appear to have complied even with this request. According to Wilkinson’s account, he took quarters at Newtown, and set out thence for Baltimore on the 24th of December, the very day before that of the intended _coup de main_. He prevailed on Wilkinson to accompany him as far as Philadelphia. On the road he appeared to be much depressed in spirits; but he relieved himself, like Lee, by criticising the plans of the commander-in-chief. “He frequently,” writes Wilkinson, “expressed the opinion that, while Washington was watching the enemy above Trenton, they would construct bateaux, pass the Delaware in his rear, and take possession of Philadelphia before he was aware; and that, instead of vainly attempting to stop Sir William Howe at the Delaware, General Washington ought to retire to the south of the Susquehanna, and there form an army. _He said it was his intention to propose this measure to Congress at Baltimore_, and urged me to accompany him to that place; but my duty forbade the thought.” Here we have somewhat of a counterpart to Lee’s project of eclipsing the commander-in-chief. Evidently the two military veterans who had once been in conclave with him at Mount Vernon, considered the truncheon of command falling from his grasp. The projected attack upon the Hessian posts was to be threefold. 1st. Washington was to cross the Delaware with a considerable force, at McKonkey’s Ferry (now Taylorsville), about nine miles above Trenton, and march down upon that place, where Rahl’s cantonment comprised a brigade of fifteen hundred Hessians, a troop of British light-horse, and a number of chasseurs. 2d. General Ewing, with a body of Pennsylvania militia, was to cross at a ferry about a mile below Trenton; secure the bridge over the Assunpink creek, a stream flowing along the south side of the town, and cut off any retreat of the enemy in that direction. 3d. General Putnam, with the troops occupied in fortifying Philadelphia, and those under General Cadwalader, was to cross below Burlington, and attack the lower posts under Count Donop. The several divisions were to cross the Delaware at night, so as to be ready for simultaneous action, by five o’clock in the morning. Seldom is a combined plan carried into full operation. Symptoms of an insurrection in Philadelphia, obliged Putnam to remain with some force in that city; but he detached five or six hundred of the Pennsylvania militia under Colonel Griffin, his adjutant-general, who threw himself into the Jerseys, to be at hand to co-operate with Cadwalader. A letter from Washington to Colonel Reed, who was stationed with Cadwalader, shows the anxiety of his mind, and his consciousness of the peril of the enterprise.