CHAPTER IV
TENCH TILGHMAN'S RIDE THROUGH KENT
Beneath the broad and extending shade of a noble oak in old St. Paul's Cemetery, there rest the remains of James Tilghman, once Provincial Councilor of Pennsylvania, the father of Colonel Tench Tilghman, the confidential secretary and aide-decamp to Gen. George Washington. On the surrender of Cornwallis, October 19, 1781, Tilghman was selected by Washington to carry his official dispatch to the Congress at Philadelphia, announcing that glorious and all-important event.
Taking boat in York Harbor, be was lost one night aground on Tangier shoals. On reaching Annapolis he found a dispatch from the Count de Grasse dated on the eighteenth, to Governor Thomas Sim Lee, had reached there a day ahead of him and been forwarded to Philadelphia. Without stopping be pushed on across the bay to Kent, having lost a whole day in a calm between Annapolis and Rock Hall. From there to Philadelphia is about eighty miles as the crow flies. De Grasse's courier had passed through Kent a day ahead. The people were on tiptoe to hear the news from York. Their hearts stopped as they imagined they heard the great guns of the English and the French booming over the waters in the still night. All looked with wistful eyes to the South for some sign of the issue of the weary struggle.
It was the supreme effort of American liberty. It was the very crisis of freedom. But the flower of Maryland was in that fight, and the lower counties on the Delaware had sent their bravest and best to back their brethren of the Eastern Shore. One of the miracles of history, attested time and again by indisputable evidence, is that when the minds of a. whole people are at white heat of excitement and expectation, knowledge comes to them independent of the senses. The victory of Pharsalia was known in Rome at the time it occurred, and the events of Waterloo were discussed on the London Stock Exchange before it adjourned, on the 18th of June; and in June, 1863, the attack of Ewell on Milory was heard and the result detailed in Richmond, 150 miles away from Winchester, where the battle took place, on the Sunday afternoon on which it occurred. There were no telegrams or possible means of communication.
So when Tench Tilghman landed at Rock Hall he was furnished a horse for his hundred miles' ride through the country, and found the hearts and minds of men and women aglow with divine frenzy. They felt what had occurred without knowing it, and were wild for confirmation of knowledge. Up through Kent, without drawing rein, this solitary horseman sped his way. He followed the old Post road through this county by way of Forktown (now Edesville), passing by old St. Paul's Church, then to Chestertown and on to Georgetown, where he crossed the Sassafras River. When his horse began to fail he turned to his nearest kinsman - for they were mostly of the same blood - and riding up to the lonely farmhouse in old Kent would shout, "Cornwall is taken; a fresh horse for the Congress and in a minute he would be remounted and pushing on in a free gallop. All the night of the twenty-second he rode up the peninsula, not a sound disturbing the silence of the darkness except the beat of his horse's hoofs. Every three or four hours he would ride up to a lonely homestead, still and quiet and dark in the first slumbers of the night, and thunder on the door with his sword: "Cornwallis is taken; a fresh horse for the Congress!" Like an electric shock the house would flash with an instant light and echo with the pattering feet of women, and before a dozen greetings could be exchanged and but a word given of the fate of the loved ones at York, Tilghman would vanish in the gloom, leaving a trail of glory and joy behind him. So he~ sped through Kent, across the head of the Sassafras, ~ through Christiana, by Wilmington, straight on to Philadelphia. The tocsin and the slogan of his news spread like fire in dry grass, and left behind him a broad blaze of delirium and joy.
"Cornwallis is taken!" passed from mouth to mouth, flew through the air, was wafted on the autumn breeze, shone with 'the sunlight. "Cornwallis is taken! Liberty is won! Peace is come! Once more husbands, fathers, sons, lovers shall return to the hearts that gave them to the cause! Once more shall joy set on every hearth and happiness shine over every rooftree!" When or where in all the tide of time has such a message been carried to such a people?
Liberty with justice!
Peace with honor!
Victory with glory! Liberty, peace, victory, honor and glory now and forever, one and inseparable!
These were the tidings that Tench Tilghman bore when he rode into Philadelphia at midnight of the twenty-third, four days from the army of York. The dispatch from De Grasse had been received, but the Congress and the people waited for Washington. Nothing was true but tidings from him. Rousing the President of the Congress, McKean, Tilghman delivered his dispatch to him and the news was instantly made public. The watchmen as they went their rounds cried: "Twelve o'clock, all is well, and Cornwallis is taken!" In a minute the whole city was wild; lights flashed from every window; men, women and children poured into the streets. The State House bell rang out its peal of "Liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof!" And thirteen sovereign and independent States were proclaimed to the world.
TENCH TILGHMAN'S RIDE THROUGH KENT.
By THE REV. DR. OLIVER HUCKEL
The sword of Cornwallis was yielded in shame;
The twenty-eight regiments, called out by name,
Their colors surrendered. The whole British host
Marched out 'twixt the ranks of America's boast,
And laid down their muskets. Redcoat drummers with frown
Beat the old English air - The World's Upside Down!
And the great war was ended; the last battle fought,
And freedom was won, so long eagerly sought!
'Twas October nineteen, and the year eighty-one,
When at Yorktown full triumph crowned great Washington;
The vet'ran's bronzed check was wet with a tear,
But ne'er had his heart known dishonor or fear.
Who shall carry the message to Congress afar,
That Cornwallis is taken, and ended the war?
Who shall spread the glad tidings to hamlet and town
That freedom is won with an honored renown?
What trustiest courier, swiftest and strong,
Shall bear the glad news they have waited for long?
The General looked anxious and pondered awhile,
Then selected his man, and with confident smile
Spake, "Tilghman, to horse! And speed night and day!
Take this message to Congress without a delay!"
'Twas a sprightly young officer, long his close friend,
Who had served in the war from beginning to end.
Then swift to the stirrup Tilghman leaped at the word,
Snatching holster and pistols and girding his sword;
He stopped not a moment, but with joy on his face
He was off like the wind in the desperate race;
The dispatch buttoned tight, naught else would he heed,
But northward as fast as his good horse could speed.
He reached the York Ferry as dusk darkened the day
And chartered a sloop for quick course up the bay.
The white stars crept out as they drove swift along;
The fresh gale seemed singing a patriot song,
As it sped the glad news, like a swift-flying dart
The glad news of victory thrilling his heart.
Now Chesapeake Bay can be mild as a lamb,
With softest of zephyrs and waves smooth and calm.
That night came a thunderstorm. Fierce lightnings crashed
And the sloop rocked and reared as the angry waves dashed;
For hours were they driven till the tempest was past,
And on far Tangier Shoals they had drifted at last.
A whole night had been lost. As the morning dawned gray,
They got off the shoals and went driving away
Up the Chesapeake under full canvas. They steered
For Annapolis shore. Oh, how slow time appeared!
Through the day, through the night, drive they swift as they can,
And at last they could hear the faint bells of St. Ann.
So they came to the wharf of Annapolis soon
On Sunday as the worshipers came forth at noon;
They found all excitement, for the good Count de Grasse
Had writ Governor Lee what must sure come to pass;
So they shout with great joy when Tench Tilghman appears,
And the good news is told amid answering cheers.
Where the Peggy Stewart burned the people went wild;
They thronged around the State House, every man, woman, child;
The guns roared salute, great fires glory lent,
But Tilghman must haste on his voyage 'cross to Kent.
He cried: "Take the message to old Baltimore,
I must speed on my way through the far Eastern Shore!"
Now again did the elements hinder his way,
For smooth as a mill pond was Chesapeake Bay;
No wind - not a breath - and they lay like a log
All night on the water becalmed in a fog;
The night and the water were calm as the morn,
But Tench Tilghman's hot heart with a tempest was torn.
At Rock Hall he landed; found horse; off they go
Like a well-chosen arrow let loose from the bow;
Through rich meadows they pass, over bridges they shoot,
By gardens and orchards hung heavy with fruit.
He rode 'cross the head of old Sassafras stream,
And on through the green hills as fleet as a dream.
More than once as he rode this peninsular way
His horse trembled and sank. Whether night, whether day,
He cried to some farmhouse: "Ho, good folks, awaken!
A fresh horse for Congress! Cornwallis is taken!"
Lights flashed, quick feet echoed, a strong horse was given,
And Tilghman was off like a courier of Heaven.
"Hurrah!" cried the farmers from meadow and door,
And cheers rent the air at the good news he bore;
Wives and children rushed out as the horseman went by
And laughed with delight at his jubilant cry;
And bonfires were lit and church bells were heard
As the countryside roused into joy at his word.
'Twas dark when old Wilmington loomed like a dream,
And they swam through the shallows of Brandywine stream;
The ships on the Delaware plainly in sight,
But eerie and strange in the gathering night.
He galloped through Chester with rollicking song,
"God speed!" cried they all, as he thundered along.
Four days and four nights had he ruthlessly sped,
By horse, boat, and horse again, forging ahead;
Scarce stopped he to sleep, but drove on like blind fate;
Oft ate as he rode, for his news could not wait;
Tens of thousands were longing, as keen as could be,
For word of war ended and the Colonies free.
'Twas just after midnight, on a mare strong and fleet,
He rode swift over Schuylkill and down Market street.
Philadelphia slumbered beneath peaceful roofs,
The cobblestones echoed the beat of the hoofs;
Then a-sudden with one dreadful shudder and groan
His black steed fell dead - but Tilghman ran on!
"O where is the President, Thomas McKean?
Dispatches for Congress!" But no one was seen.
At last came a sleepy watch pointing the way,
And off Tilghman rushed like a roysterer gay.
He knocked and he shouted. The watch bade him cease
And threatened arrest for disturbing the peace.
But he shouted the louder: "Cornwallis is taken!"
And at last the deep-slumbering town did awaken;
Lights flashed from the windows and forth came a throng
To make the streets gay with their laughter and song;
And the bell in the State House was rung by glad hands,
Again sounding liberty all through the lands.
'Twas a night of rejoicing for the staid Quaker town,
A great night of hist'ry and of noble renown.
Cried the ancient night watch, with his lantern and bell:
"Cornwallis is taken - three o'clock and all's well!"
And couriers set off for New York and "down East,"
To tell the good news for the Thanksgiving feast.
Dawn came, and a dozen great cannon boomed forth
The jubilant news that had come to the North;
And Congress met early, the dispatches were read,
And orators praised both the living and dead;
And they crowded to church and laid by the sword
With hosannas from thousands of hearts to the Lord.
And gallant Tench Tilghman, the hero of all,
Was feted in homes and high honored in hall;
Congress voted him thanks, a great sword chased with gold,
And the noblest black steed with accoutrements bold;
And America ne'er in its patriot pride
Shall forget his good news and his glorious ride!
Page(s) 33-40, History of Kent County, Maryland, 1630-1916, by Fred G. Usilton, 1916
Transcribed by Nathan Zipfel for the Maryland History and Genealogy Project