his ground till the British general was compelled to renounce the hope of forcing him to a general action at a disadvantage, on the left bank of the Hudson. Foiled therefore in this, Howe crossed over into the Jerseys, and Washington began that memorable retreat, in which, by contesting every inch of、 ground that could be contested, by breaking down bridges, and throwing every possible obstacle in the enemy's path, he made less than seventy miles of level country cost them nineteen days, and succeeded not only in putting the broad Delaware betwixt his army and theirs, but effectually secured the command of the river by sinking or destroying all the boats from Philadelphia upwards, for seventy miles.

Now, thought Howe, the campaign is over; we have secured New York; we have overrun New Jersey; all that remains to do is to hold our ground by detachments, and go quietly into the comfortable winter-quarters that we have won for ourselves. Lord Cornwallis, who had been foremost in all these movements, asked leave of absence, and prepared to make a visit to England.

Washington had crossed the Delaware on the 8th of December, with less than three thousand men fit for duty. He had readily divined the enemy's plan of keeping down the Whigs by spreading their men over a large tract of country. "And now," said he, "is the time to clip their wings when they are so spread." On Christmas

night he recrossed the river, knowing that the en. emy would keep dull watch mid their Christmas carols. The weather was so cold that of the four or five men lost, two at least were frozen to death; but in spite of the ice, which delayed him till near daybreak, before the next daybreak he was safe again on the Pennsylvania shore with nine hundred and nine prisoners, and all their arms and equipments. Nothing but the ice saved the troops at Bordentown from a similar fate.

Cornwallis, giving up all thoughts of England for that winter, hurried back to Brunswick, and, gathering in his forces, marched rapidly upon Trenton, which Washington, following up his blow, had reoccupied on the 30th of December. By four in the afternoon of the 2d of January, Cornwallis was upon him with a superior force. By the 5th, Washington was securely encamped at Pluckemin; the enemy had been baffled by a bold change of line of operations; the battle of Princeton had been won, and nothing left to the English general of his conquests in the Jerseys but Brunswick and Amboy.

Frederic himself could not, under similar circumstances, have chosen a better winter-post than that which Washington now took at Morristown; strength, command of supplies, security of communications, accessibility to reinforcements, convenience for watching the enemy and harassing him at every opening, were all combined. Henceforth, a cloud like that which lowered so ominous

ly before the eyes of Hannibal, when Fabius was watching him from the mountains, met the eyes of Howe whenever he turned them towards the west. He advanced, he retreated, he threatened, now on one side, now on another; he exhausted all the manoeuvres of his art in efforts to bring the American to an engagement, and open for himself a land route to Philadelphia; and, thwarted in all, suddenly withdrew to New York, and, embarking his troops, put to sea.

Whither? An anxious question, which Washington anxiously revolved. From the north, Burgoyne was advancing towards Albany. A corresponding advance from New York might break the line of the Hudson, and cut off the communication between the Middle and the Eastern States. All that he could do to prevent it, Washington had already done. But on what point of the long line of the American coast this new blow would fall, it was impossible to foresee. Philadelphia seemed the most probable, and, holding himself ready to move at a moment's warning, he prepared for a desperate struggle.

At last the veil was lifted. The British fleet was in the Chesapeake; the British army was landing at the head of Elk. Washington hurried his motley battalions southward, looking hopes which he hardly felt, and trying to rouse the courage of Philadelphia by marching in full array through the city. Political motives called loudly for a battle,

and he fought the battle of the Brandywine. Erroneous information concerning the movements of Cornwallis, a circumstance utterly beyond his control, was brought him just as he was upon the point of crossing the river to attack Knyphausen, and cut off the English line of retreat, a suggestion of the same daring genius which suggested the advance upon Princeton, and which could hardly have failed of the same brilliant success. Defeated, he secured his retreat, saved his army, was ready for another battle. A violent storm coming on just as both sides were preparing to engage, separated them on that day, and when the storm ceased, the Americans, ill-provided for such contingencies, found that their ammunition was wet. Marching, countermarching, manoeuvring followed. Howe had but thirty miles between him and Philadelphia; thirty miles through an open country in which every stream was fordable; but so judicious were Washington's manœuvres, so unremitting his watchfulness, so skilful his employment of his unequal force, that fifteen days were consumed in marching those thirty miles.

Philadelphia fell; but hardly were the English established in their quarters, when Washington darted upon their advance at Germantown, and, though foiled in his attempt to cut them off, struck a blow that was felt at once by the American Commissioners in Paris. "Nothing," said Count Vergennes, "has struck me so much as Genera

Washington's attacking and giving battle to General Howe's army; to bring an army raised within a year to this, promises everything." A continued struggle of six weeks for the command of the Delaware followed, and November was near its end before Howe could truly call Philadelphia his own. But the cloud was still on the horizon, ominous, full of menace. He could not rest tranquilly in his pleasant quarters till he had seen what those menaces meant. Opposite the range of hills on which the American army lay, was the range of Chestnut Hill, equally strong. From this Howe tried once more to draw his enemy into an engagement on unfavorable ground. Washington was willing to fight on ground of his own choice, but not on that of his enemy's choosing. Three days the English general manoeuvred; three days the American general stood prepared for an attack. Neither party was willing to give up the advantage of ground; and Howe, on the afternoon of the third day, confessing himself once more vanquished in the contest of skill, marched his fourteen thousand veterans back to Philadelphia, leaving fifteen thousand Americans, not a thousand of whom had seen a year's service, and more than three thousand of whom were militia, in undisputd possession of the field.

Then came that terrible winter at Valley Forge, which our fathers could never speak of without a shudder. The general was once more merged in