quarters. Their first division, consisting of two columns of Hessians and Waldeckers, amounting to about five thousand men, under the command of General Knyphausen, advanced on the north side of the works against the hill where Colonel Rawlings commanded, who received them with great gallantry. The second, on the east, consist ing of the first and second battalions of British light infantry, and two battalions of guards, was led on by Brigadier General Matthews, supported by Lord Cornwallis at the head of the first and second battalions of grenadiers, and the 33d regiment. These troops crossed the East River in boats, under cover of the artillery, planted in works which had been erected for, this purpose on the opposite side of the river, and landed within the second line of defence which crossed the island. The third division was conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Stirling, who passed the East River lower down; and the fourth by Lord Percy, accompanied by General Howe in person. This division was to attack the lines in front, on the south side *.

The attacks on the north and south, by General Knyphausen and Lord Percy, were made, about the same instant, on Colonels Rawlings and Cadwallader, who maintained their ground for a considerable time; but while Colonel Cadwallader

*Letter of General Howe.

was engaged in the first line against Lord Percy on the south, the second and third divisions of the enemy, which had crossed the East River, made good their landing, and soon dispersed the troops fronting that river, as well as a detachment sent by Colonel Cadwallader to support them. These being overpowered, he deemed it necessary to abandon the lines, and a retreat was commenced towards the fort, which being conducted with confusion, a part of his men were intercepted by the division under Colonel Stirling, and made prisoners. The resistance on the north was conducted with more courage, and was of longer duration. Rawlings maintained his ground with firmness, and his riflemen did vast execution. The Germans were repulsed several times with great loss; and had every other part of the action been equally well maintained, the enemy, if ultimately successful, would have had much reason to deplore their victory. The Hessian columns, by dint of perseverance and numbers, at length gained the summit of the hill, and Colonel Rawlings, who perceived the danger which threatened his rear, retreated under the guns of the fort.

Having now carried the lines and all the strong ground adjoining, the British General again summoned Colonel M'Gaw to surrender. While the capitulation was negotiating, General Washington sent him a billet, requesting him to hold out till

the

the evening, when he would endeavour to bring off the garrison; but Colonel M'Gaw had already proceeded too far to retreat, and it is probable the place could not have resisted an assault from so formidable a force as now threatened it on every side. The most essential difficulties had been overcome, the fort was too small to contain all the men, and their ammunition was nearly exhausted. Under these circumstances, the garrison surrendered prisoners of war.

The loss on this occasion was, perhaps, the greatest the Americans had ever experienced. The garrison was stated, by General Washington, at about two thousand men; yet, in a report published as from General Howe, the number of prisoners is stated at two thousand six hundred, exclusive of officers. If this report were genuine, either General Howe must have included in it persons who were not soldiers, or General Washington, in his letter, must have comprised only the regulars. The last conjecture is most probably correct. The loss of the enemy is stated, by Mr. Stedman, in his history of the war, at about eight hundred This loss fell heaviest on the Germans *.

men.

The

*Had the fort towards the East River been defended with as much gallantry as the hill on the north, the enemy would pro bably have been repulsed, and would eventually have sustained so heavy a loss, as very essentially to have effected their ulterior

opera

The surrender of Fort Washington produced a determination to evacuate Fort Lee, and a removal of the stores to the interior of Jersey was immediately commenced. Before this could be possibly completed, a large body of the enemy, consisting of two battalions of British, three of Hessian grenadiers, two of light infantry, the guards, the chasseurs, the royal Highlanders, the thirty-third regiment, and a detachment of the Queen's light dragoons, conjectured to amount, altogether, to about six thousand men, under Lord Cornwallis, crossed the North River, below Dobb's Ferry, and endeavoured by a rapid march to enclose the garrison of Fort Lee, between the North and Hackensac Rivers. On the first intelligence of their approach, it was determined to meet and fight them; but it was soon discovered that their force was too great to be encountered. It was also perceived that they were extending themselves across the country, so as to surround the Americans. It was, therefore, deemed necessary to withdraw the garrison, with the utmost possible dispatch, from the narrow neck of land between the Hudson and Hackensac; and, with considerable difficulty, their

operations; but, among raw troops, however great the exertions of many may be, there must ever be found a defect of courage in some one point, which must defeat any general plan. This results from the circumstance, that their conduct depends more on individual firmness than on habits of discipline.

retreat

retreat was effected over a bridge on the latter river. At Fort Lee, all the heavy cannon, except two twelve-pounders, and a considerable quantity of provisions and military stores, including three hundred tents, were lost. The great difficulty experienced on this and on all other occasions, in obtaining waggons, for the removal of stores and baggage, rendered this loss inevitable.

General Washington now took post along the Hackensac, but it was impossible to dispute its passage. He was now in a level country, without a single intrenching tool; at the head of an army consisting of about three thousand effectives; exposed, without tents, to the inclement season which already prevailed; among people by no means zealous in the American cause; and, in other respects, his present situation was a dangerous one.

This gloomy state of things was not brightened by the prospect before him. In casting his eyes around, no cheering object presented itself. No safe reliance could be placed on reinforcements to be drawn from any quarter. He, however, made every possible exertion to collect an army, and, in the mean time, to impede, as much as possible, the progress of the enemy. General Carleton having retired from before Ticonderoga, he directed General Schuyler to send to his aid, with the utmost possible dispatch, the troops of Pennsylvania and Jersey, who had been attached to the northern

army.