An intriguing and important figure in the Revolutionary War, but one whom most people aren’t familiar with, is Charles Lee. He was British, but he was a major-general in the American army. He had a lot of military experience, and many people considered him vital to winning the war. But in December 1776, he made a simple yet disastrous mistake.
While marching his army through New Jersey, he for some reason decided to spend the night in a house at Basking Ridge, a couple of miles away from the rest of the army, with only about a dozen men to guard him. Somehow the British got word of it, and they sent a cavalry detachment rushing to capture him on the morning of Friday, December 13.
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