Double Crossings

By Lee White

Frederich Walter rests, exhausted after being among Washington’s troops at the crossing of the Delaware River in December 1776. As he falls asleep, he remembers another time of fear and excitement in his life—nearly thirty years ago, when he and his family prepared to leave their home in Germany to come to America.

From a poor village in Germany, Freddie and his family begin the long, dangerous journey to the New World. His mother, who is very frail, packs a beautiful, flowered bowl carefully among their belongings. They travel by foot to the Rhine River and then by riverboat to Rotterdam, where they eventually secure passage to cross the Atlantic. Through many adventures and hardships and a terrible tragedy on-board ship, Freddie eventually makes it to America—but what happened to his parents and what happened to his mother’s beautiful bowl and his other belongings?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483415789

Lee White

Lee White lives with his wife and their three crazy cats in Portland, Oregon, and you can visit him online at LeeWhiteIllustration.com.

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Copyright © 2014 Lee White.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1579-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1578-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014913513

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 9/29/2014

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Authors Note

Bibligraphy

This book is dedicated in memory of my aunt, Eloise Leona Kendall Everson. It was because of her interest in genealogy and her encouragement that I have enjoyed a life-long pursuit of family history and thus…this story.

Such is my situation that if I were to wish the bitterest curse to an enemy on this side of the grave, I should put him in my stead with my feelings…

-General George Washington-1776

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Prologue

Frederich was bone tired, cold, and hungry. It was the day after Christmas, 1776. He had spent the whole night, along with part of his detachment, guarding the ferries and fording places of the Delaware River between the Falls of Trenton and Bristol. Because of the bad weather, the troops began the quarter-mile crossing of the river at six p.m. and were not finished until three a.m. There had been 2,400 soldiers, 200 horses, and eighteen cannons ferried across and then marched eight freezing miles downstream. Their plan had been to surprise the Hessian mercenaries, who were fighting for the English. The mercenaries were caught off guard during their Christmas celebration at Trenton, New Jersey, as was Washington’s plan. Frederich heard that two of Washington’s men had frozen to death on the march, but none died in the battle. News about the battle was spreading throughout Frederich’s detachment. Those around