from the other British regiments. He fought, however, with great bravery, and forcing his way, at the point of the bayonet, through gathering foes, retreated in disorder and with heavy loss towards Trenton to join Cornwallis. In the meantime the 55th regiment, which had been on the left and nearer Princeton, had been encountered by the American advance guard under General St. Clair, and after some sharp fighting in a ravine had given way, and was retreating across fields and along a by-road to Brunswick. The remaining regiment, the 40th, had not been able to come up in time for the action; a part of it fled toward Brunswick; the residue took refuge in the college at Princeton, recently occupied by them as barracks. Artillery was now brought to bear on the college, and a few shot compelled those within to surrender.

In this brief but brilliant action, about one hundred of the British were left dead on the field, and nearly three hundred taken prisoners, fourteen of whom were officers. The loss of the Americans was about twenty-five or thirty men and several officers. Among the latter was the brave and noble General Mercer, who died a few days afterward in the house of Mr. Clark, whither he had been conveyed by his aide-de-camp.

In the pursuit of the routed regiments which were making a headlong retreat to Brunswick, Washington took the lead at the head of a detachment of cavalry. At Kingston, however, three miles to the northeast of Princeton, he pulled up, restrained his ardor, and held a council of war on horseback. Should he keep on to Brunswick or not? The capture of the British stores and baggage would make his triumph complete; but, on the other hand, his troops were excessively fatigued by their rapid march all night and hard fight in the morning. All of them had been one night without sleep, and some of them two, and many were halfstarved. They were without blankets, thinly clad, some of them barefooted, and this in freezing weather. Cornwallis would be upon them before they could reach Brunswick. His rear-guard, under Leslie, had been quartered but six miles from Princeton, and the retreating troops must have roused them. Under these considerations, it was determined to discontinue the pursuit and

push for Morristown. There they would be in a mountainous country, heavily wooded, in an abundant neighborhood, and on the flank of the enemy, with various defiles by which they might change their position according to his movements.

Filing off to the left, therefore, from Kingston, and breaking down the bridges behind him, Washington took the narrow road by Rocky Hill to Pluckamin. His troops were so exhausted, that many in the course of the march would lie down in the woods on the frozen ground and fall asleep, and were with difficulty roused and cheered forward. At Pluckamin he halted for a time, to allow them a little repose and refreshment. While they are taking breath we will cast our eyes back to the camp of Cornwallis, to see what was the effect upon him of this masterly movement of Washington. His lordship had retired to rest at Trenton with the sportsman's vaunt that he would "bag the fox in the morning." Nothing could surpass his surprise and chagrin when at daybreak the expiring watchfires and deserted camp of the Americans told him that he was outgeneralled and the prize had once more evaded his grasp.

For a time he could not learn whither the army, which had stolen away so silently, had directed its stealthy march. By sunrise, however, there was the booming of cannon, like the rumbling of distant thunder, in the direction of Princeton. The idea flashed upon him that Washington had not merely escaped, but was about to make a dash at the British magazines at Brunswick. Alarmed for the safety of his military stores, his lordship forthwith broke up his camp, and made a rapid march towards Princeton. As he arrived in sight of the bridge over Stony Brook, he beheld a party of American troops busy in its destruction. A distant discharge of round shot from his field-pieces drove them away, but the bridge was already broken. It would take time to repair it for the passage of the artillery; so Cornwallis in his impatience urged his troops breast-high through the turbulent and icy stream, and again pushed forward. Crossing the bridge at Kingston, he kept on along the Brunswick road, supposing Washington still before him. The latter had got far in the advance, during the

delay caused by the broken bridge at Stony Brook, and the alteration of his course at Kingston had carried him completely out of the way of Cornwallis. His lordship reached Brunswick towards evening, and endeavored to console himself, by the safety of the military stores, for being so completely foiled and outmanœuvred. Washington in the meantime continued forward to Morristown, where at length he came to a halt from his incessant and harassing marchings. Colonel Reed was ordered to send out rangers and bodies of militia to scour the country, waylay foraging parties, cut off supplies, and keep the cantonments of the enemy in a state of siege. "I would not suffer a man to stir beyond their lines," writes Washington, "nor suffer them to have the least communication with the country." The situation of Cornwallis became daily more and more irksome. Spies were in his camp, to give notice of every movement, and foes without to take advantage of it; so that not a foraging party could sally forth without being waylaid. By degrees he drew in his troops which were posted about the country, and collected them at New Brunswick and Amboy, so as to have a communication by water with New York, whence he was now compelled to draw nearly all his supplies.

The recent operations in the Jerseys had suddenly changed the whole aspect of the war, and given a triumphant close to what had been a disastrous campaign. The troops, which had so long been driven from post to post, had all at once turned upon their pursuers, and astounded them by brilliant stratagems and daring exploits. The commander, whose cautious policy had been sneered at by enemies, and regarded with impatience by misjudging friends, had all at once shown that he possessed enterprise as well as circumspection, energy as well as endurance, and that beneath his wary coldness lurked a fire quick to break forth at the proper moment. This year's campaign, the most critical one of the war, and especially the part of it which occurred in New Jersey, was the ordeal that made his great qualities fully appreciated by his countrymen, and gained for him from the statesmen and generals of Europe the appellation of the AMERICAN FABIUS.

§ 6. THE NORTHERN INVASION.

Winter and Spring of 1777.-The British government was astonished at the issue of the campaigns which had just closed. The plan had been to capture or disperse the American armies and to get complete control of Ticonderoga and the city of New York, and of the Hudson river between them. There were a great many Tories in the city and state of New York; and it was thought that if this state could be thus conquered, it might be easily held, and would effectually separate New England and Virginia, the two chief centres of the rebellion. The success of the British had fallen far short of their expectations. The furious resistance of Arnold had so discouraged Carleton that he had refrained from attacking Ticonderoga and had withdrawn into winter-quarters. At the other end of the line, the army of Washington, instead of being captured or dispersed, had ended the campaign with two important victories, and now held Sir William Howe in check. The new year would call for greater efforts on the part of the British. Burgoyne went home to England and spent the winter making plans with the king and his ministers. In the spring he returned with instructions to conduct the expedition against Ticonderoga and down the Hudson, while his superior officer General Carleton should stay in Canada. An expedition under Colonel Barry St. Leger was to ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, land at Oswego, and come down the Mohawk valley, gathering Tory and Indian recruits, driving the patriots from that part of the country, and finally uniting with Burgoyne. Sir William Howe was at the same time to ascend the Hudson, capture the American forts in the Highlands, and effect a junction with Burgoyne. Such was the British plan for the summer campaign. It failed, mainly because Howe never received full and positive instructions, and being left to act upon his own discretion, failed to co-operate with Burgoyne.

General Charles Lee was kept in New York as a prisoner during the whole of the year 1777, while the king made up his mind what should be done with him. As he had once been lieutenant-colonel

in the British army, he was regarded as a deserter, and would probably have been shot but for Washington's interference. Washington informed Howe that he had selected five of the Hessian officers captured at Trenton, and should keep them as hostages. for Lee's safety. The British government then did not dare to put Lee to death for fear of harm to the Hessian officers, which would be likely to cause serious disaffection among the German troops. But meanwhile Lee, alarmed for his personal safety, tried to set himself right with the British by acting the part of a traitor toward the Americans. During the winter and spring he plotted with Howe and gave him the benefit of all the information he possessed, such as might help him in conquering the Americans in the course of the summer. As usual, the advice of this shallow knave was far from sound. He assured Howe that Philadelphia was an object of more military importance than the Hudson river. In June, Howe tried to reach Philadelphia by crossing the state of New Jersey; but in a wonderful campaign of three weeks' duration, with an inferior force and without any serious fighting, Washington completely outgeneralled him. Baffled at every turn, Howe evacuated New Jersey, and, still guided by the advice of the traitor Lee, embarked his army on transports and sailed off to Chesapeake Bay, to approach Philadelphia from the south. In this way he wasted a great part of the summer, and when he had got into Pennsylvania, Washington gave him so much work to do that he was never able to be of any use to Burgoyne, who was allowed to rush upon his fate unaided.

During the winter Gates was busy with his intrigues, and the enemies of Schuyler and Washington played into his hands. Blows were as yet aimed not directly against Washington, but against his favorite officers, and the first one fell upon Arnold. In February, when five new major-generals were to be appointed, Congress passed over Arnold, who was the senior brigadier, and selected five officers who were not only his juniors, but conspicuously inferior to him in ability. The reason alleged for this gross affront was that Connecticut had already two major-generals (Putnam and Wooster), and ought not in fairness to have any more! But the