IV. None 1776. August 27. For them Jewett of Lyme, captain of volunteers, after CHAP. his surrender was run through the body by the officer to whom he gave up his sword. remained in the field but Stirling, with the regi ment of Maryland and that of Delaware. nearly four hours they had stood in their ranks. with colors flying; when Stirling, finding himself without hope of a reënforcement, and perceiving the main body of the British army rapidly coming behind him, gave them the word to retreat. They withdrew in perfect order; twenty marines, who mistook the Delawares, from the facing of their uniforms, for Hessians, were brought off as prisoners. The only avenue of escape was by wading through Gowanus creek; and this passage was almost cut off by troops under Cornwallis, who had advanced by the Port road, and, with the second regiment of grenadiers and the seventy-first of Highlanders, blocked the retreat at a house near the tidemills, within less than a half-mile of the American lines. Stirling had not a moment to deliberate; he must hold Cornwallis in check, or his whole party is lost; with the quick inspiration of disinterested valor, he ordered the Delaware regiment and one half of that of Maryland to make the best of their way across the marsh and creek; while, to secure them time for this movement, he confronted the advancing British with only five companies of Marylanders. His heroic self-sacrifice animated the young soldiers whom he retained with almost invincible resolution; they flew at the enemy with "unparalleled bravery, in view of all the American generals and troops within the CHAP. lines, who alternately praised and pitied them." IV. Washington wrung his hands as he exclaimed: 1776. "My God! what brave men must I this day lose!" 27. They seemed likely to drive back the foremost August ranks of the British; and when forced to give way, rallied and renewed the onset. In this manner ten minutes were gained, so that the Delawares with their prisoners, and all of the Maryland regiment but its five devoted companies, succeeded in reaching the creek. Seven were drowned in its deep waters; the rest got safely over, and were escorted to the camp by a regiment and a company, which Washington had sent out to their relief. Stirling and the few who were with him attempted to pass between Cornwallis and an American fort, but were beaten back by masses of troops. Pressed by the enemy in the front and the rear, attacked on the right flank and on the left, they gave up the contest. Most of them, retreating to the right through the woods, were cut to pieces or taken; nine only succeeded in crossing the creek. Stirling himself, refusing to surrender to the British general, sought Von Heister, and gave up his sword to the veteran. During the engagement, a deep column of the British descended from the woods with General Vaughan, and drew near the American lines; they were met by the fire of cannon and small arms. Howe would not risk an assault, and ordered them back to a hollow way, where they were out of the reach of musketry. The works were carefully planned, protected by an abatis, manned by fresh troops, who were strengthened by three regiments IV. August of Scott's brigade, just arrived from New York. CHAP. Washington was present to direct and to encourage. The attempt to storm the redoubt, without 1776. artillery or fascines or axes or scaling-ladders, 27. might have been repulsed with losses greater than at Bunker Hill; had the works been carried, all the American troops on Long Island must have surrendered. Of the British, at the least five officers and fiftysix others were killed, twelve officers and two hundred and forty-five others wounded, one officer and twenty marines taken prisoners. Much more than one half of this loss fell upon the troops who successively encountered Stirling. Of the Hessians, only two privates were killed; three officers and twenty-three privates were wounded. The total loss of the Americans, including officers, was, after careful inquiry, found to be less than a thousand, of whom three fourths were prisoners; this is the account always given by Washington, alike in his official report and in his most private letters; its accuracy is confirmed by the special returns from those regiments which were the chief sufferers. More than half of this loss fell upon Stirling's command; more than a fourth on the Maryland regiment alone. From the coast-road on the bay to the pass on the road from Jamaica was a distance of more than five miles, too great to be occupied, except by pickets. The approach of the British to the American lines could not have been prevented; and nothing but inexperience or blind zeal could have expected a different result. But the extent CHAP. of the disasters of the day was due to the incaIV. pacity of Putnam, who, in spite of warning, suffered 1776. himself to be surprised; and having sent Stirling August 27. and "the flower of the American army" into the most dangerous position into which brave men could have been thrown, neglected to countermand his orders. The day, though so full of sorrow for the Americans, shed little glory on British arms. The Hessians, who received the surrender of Sullivan, Stirling, and more than half the captives, made no boast of having routed disconnected groups of illarmed militia, who were supported only by a few poor cannon, and were destitute of engineers. CHAPTER V. THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND. AUGUST 27-30, 1776. V. August A BLEAK northeasterly wind sprung up at the CHAP. close of the day. The British army, whose tents had not yet been brought up, slept in front of the 1776. lines at Brooklyn, wrapped in their blankets and 27. warmed by fires. Those of the patriot army who in their retreat from the woody heights had left their blankets behind them, and the battalions of Scott's brigade, which had come over in haste, passed the night without shelter, suffering from the cold. The dead of the Americans lay unburied in the forest; the severely wounded languished where they fell, to suffer uncared for, and to die alone; here and there a fugitive who had concealed himself in a thicket or a swamp found his way back to his old companions. The captives were forced to endure coarse revilings and cowardly insults; and, when consigned to the provost-marshal, were huddled together in crowded rooms or prison-ships, cut |