Secret History SocietyCase files & curiosities
Mini puzzle · Case No. 001
August 27th, 1776
Washington's army is about to lose the war. A few weeks after declaring independence, the Continental Army has lost a big battle on Long Island, and things do not look good.
Ms. Whitfield unlocks a drawer in the historical society archive. "Most people think the Revolution was won on a battlefield. This one very nearly ended it. Ten thousand British troops just outflanked Washington's army on Long Island — trapped against the East River with nowhere to go. Solve this, and you'll know exactly how a beaten army escaped certain defeat."
— from the archive transcript
I came at the hour armies most fear,
when nine thousand men had nowhere clear —
pinned to a river, their backs to the sea,
a beaten army with no way to flee.
Washington ordered the oars wrapped tight,
wagon wheels muffled, not a sound in the night.
Fires were left in the camp, burning bright,
so the enemy dreamed the army's still in sight.
Boat after boat, they slipped away,
fishermen rowing till the break of day.
But dawn nearly caught them, the sun climbing higher —
until something rolled in and hid them entire.
Not a soldier. Not a spy. Not a single gun.
I came from nowhere, and stayed till the crossing was done.
I hid nine thousand men from an army's plain sight.What am I, that saved Washington's men that night?
Case solved
The fog rolled in — and hid nine thousand men.
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