The Life of George Washington. John Marshall

support them; but, the hill being lost, the attempt to regain it was deemed unadvisable. The American loss, in this spirited action, was between three and four hundred in killed, wounded, and missing. General Smallwood was among the wounded.⁶

      A considerable part of the day having been exhausted in gaining the hill, Howe suspended further operations till the next morning; and the British army lay on their arms through the night in order of battle.

      This interval was employed by General Washington in removing his sick and baggage, and adapting the arrangement of his troops to existing circumstances. His right was drawn back to stronger ground. Perceiving this, Howe resolved to postpone further offensive operations until Lord Percy should come up with the rear division of the army. This reinforcement was received on the evening of the thirtieth; but a violent rain which fell that night and the succeeding day still farther postponed the meditated assault.

      Having now removed his sick, provisions, and heavy baggage, to stronger ground, General Washington retired, in the night of the first of November, to the heights of North Castle, about five miles from the White Plains. General Howe thought this position too strong to be attempted with prudence, and determined to change his plan of operation.

      The American garrisons in forts Lee and Washington imposed a check on his movements, and rendered York Island insecure. As preliminary to an attack on these forts, he directed Knyphausen to take possession of Kingsbridge, which was defended by fort Independence. On his approach, the small garrison retired to fort Washington, and Knyphausen encamped between that place and Kingsbridge.

      In the mean time General Howe retired slowly down the North river. General Washington penetrated his design, and prepared as far as was in his power to counteract it. His letter to Congress communicating his movements, states his conviction that his adversary was not about to close the campaign, but would immediately invest⁷ fort Washington, and make a descent into Jersey. A council of war determined unanimously that the troops raised on the west of the Hudson should cross that river immediately, and be soon afterwards followed by those from the eastern part of the continent, except three thousand men who were to remain for the defence of the Highlands. A letter was also addressed to the Governor of New Jersey, stating the probable invasion of that State, and urging the necessity of putting the militia in the best possible condition to reinforce his army, and to replace the new levies which were engaged only to the first of December. Immediate information of this movement was also transmitted to General Greene,⁸ who commanded in the Jerseys; and his attention was particularly pointed to fort Washington.

      As the British army approached Kingsbridge, three ships of war passed up the Hudson, notwithstanding the additional obstructions placed in the channel, uninjured by the fire from the forts. This demonstration of the inefficacy of those obstructions justified, in the opinion of General Washington, the evacuation of those forts. “If,” said he, in his letter to General Greene, “we cannot prevent vessels from passing up, and the enemy are possessed of the surrounding country, what valuable purpose can it answer to hold a post from which the expected benefit cannot be derived? I am therefore inclined to think it will not be prudent to hazard the men and stores at Mount Washington. But as you are on the spot, I leave it to you to give such orders respecting the evacuation of the place as you may think most advisable; and so far revoke the orders given to Colonel McGaw to defend it to the last.”

      General Washington crossed the North river on the 13th of November, in the rear of the troops destined to act in the Jerseys, and proceeded to the quarters of General Greene, near fort Lee.

      Mount Washington is a high piece of rocky ground, very difficult of ascent, especially towards the north. The lines and outworks, which were chiefly on the southern side, were drawn quite across the island. The fortifications were believed to be capable of resisting any attempt to carry them by storm; and the garrison, which consisted of about two thousand regulars and a few militia, was commanded by Colonel McGaw, a brave and intelligent officer.

      General Howe, having made the necessary preparations for an assault, summoned the garrison to surrender on the 15th of November. Colonel McGaw replied, that he should defend the place to the last extremity, and communicated the summons to General Greene at fort Lee, who transmitted it to the commander-in-chief, then at Hackensac. He immediately rode to fort Lee, and, though late in the night, was proceeding to fort Washington, when, in crossing the river, he met Generals Putnam and Greene returning from a visit to that fort. They reported that the garrison was in high spirits, and would make a good defence; on which he returned with them to fort Lee.

      Early next morning, Colonel McGaw prepared for the expected assault. Colonel Rawlings, of Maryland, commanded a party posted on a hill towards Kingsbridge; and Colonel Cadwallader of Pennsylvania, commanded a body of troops who were posted in the outermost of the lines drawn across the island, and between the lines, on the rocky and precipitous heights fronting Haarlem river.

      Nov. 16

      About ten, the assailants appeared before the works and moved to the assault in four different quarters. The first division consisting of about five thousand Germans, commanded by General Knyphausen advanced against the hill occupied by Colonel Rawlings. The second, on the east, was led by General Matthews, supported by Lord Cornwallis. These troops crossed Haarlem river in boats under cover of their artillery, and landed within the outer line which crossed the island. The third, conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Stirling, crossed the river higher up; and the fourth, led by Lord Percy, accompanied by General Howe, assaulted the lines in front on the south side.

      The attacks on the north and south were made at the same instant. While Colonel Cadwallader was engaged in the first line against Lord Percy, the second and third divisions crossed Haarlem river, made good their landing, and dispersed the troops fronting that river, as well as a detachment sent by Colonel Cadwallader to support them. As the British advanced between the fort and the lines, they were necessarily abandoned. In retreating to the fort, some of the troops were intercepted by the division under Colonel Stirling, and made prisoners.

      The resistance on the north was of longer duration. After an obstinate conflict, the Germans gained the summit of the hill; and Rawlings, perceiving the danger which threatened his rear, retreated to the fort.

      

      The summons to surrender was now repeated; and it being thought impracticable to defend the place, the garrison became prisoners of war.

      The loss on this occasion was the greatest the Americans had ever sustained. That of the assailants, according to Mr. Stedman, amounted to eight hundred men.⁹ It fell chiefly on the Germans.

      The determination to evacuate fort Lee was the consequence of the surrender of fort Washington, and a removal of the stores was immediately commenced. Before this operation could be completed, Lord Cornwallis with about six thousand men crossed the river, and endeavoured to enclose the garrison between the north and Hackensac rivers. A retreat from that narrow neck of land was effected, with the loss of the heavy cannon and military stores.

      After crossing the Hackensac, General Washington posted his troops along its western bank, but was unable to dispute its passage. At the head of about three thousand effectives, he was in a level country, with the Passaic in his rear, which unites with the Hackensac, a small distance below the ground he occupied.

      This gloomy state of things was not brightened by the prospect before him. No confidence could be placed on receiving reinforcements from any quarter. But in no situation could Washington despond. Understanding that Ticonderoga was no longer threatened, he directed General Schuyler to hasten the troops of Pennsylvania and Jersey to his assistance, and ordered General Lee to cross the North river and be in readiness to join him. But under the same fatal cause which had acted elsewhere, their armies were melting away, and would soon be almost totally dissolved. General Mercer, who commanded part of the flying-camp stationed about Bergen, was also called in; but these troops who had engaged to serve only till the first of December, had already abandoned the army in great numbers. No hope existed of retaining them after they should be entitled to a discharge; and there was not much probability of supplying their places with other militia. To New England he looked with anxious hope; and his requisitions on those states received prompt attention. Six