At this juncture, Washington definitely resolved to establish his permanent base, as against New York; and selected Morristown, which had already been made the rendezvous of the New Jersey troops. General Maxwell, who was familiar with the country, was assigned to the command of this new position. Three regiments from Ticonderoga were ordered to halt at the new post. On the twenty-third of December, Washington sent a confidential communication to Adjutant-General Reed, then with General Cadwallader, in which he designated “Christmas night, an hour before day, as the time fixed for an attack upon Trenton.” Reed had fully shared in the desire for active, offensive duty, and in one letter thus concurred in the Commander-in-Chief’s opinion, that “to repossess ourselves of New Jersey, or any part of it, would have more effect than if we had never left it.” The purpose of Washington was so to combine the movements of various divisions, including one under Putnam from Philadelphia, as practically to clear the east bank of the Delaware of all Hessian garrisons. Putnam feared that the Tory element would rise during his absence, and that order was suspended. The right wing, under Cadwallader, was to cross at Bristol (see map); but owing to ice, which prevented the landing of artillery, he returned to Bristol, and reported to Washington. After expressing regret over his failure, he thus closes: “I imagine the badness of the night must have prevented you from passing over as you intended.” Ewing was to cross over just below Trenton, to intercept any reënforcements that might approach the garrison from Bordentown; but the violence of the storm prevented that movement also. Washington took charge of the left wing, consisting of twenty-four hundred men, which was to cross at McConkey’s Ferry, nine miles above Trenton, accompanied by Sullivan and Greene as division commanders. When preparations were complete, and Washington in his saddle, Major Wilkinson, of the staff of Gates, notified him that General Gates had gone to Baltimore to visit Congress. This was a deliberate “_absence, without leave_,” at an hour when he knew, and in advance, that Washington intended to force a battle; but Stark, of Breed’s Hill, was there. Glover, the man of Marblehead and hero of the Long Island retreat, was there; and William Washington, and James Monroe, were there! [Illustration: WASHINGTON BEFORE TRENTON. [From Dael’s painting.] ]