Preface to James Wilkinson’s Account of General Charles Lee’s Capture
The following account comes from General James Wilkinson’s Memoirs of My Own Times, published in 1816, and offers a remarkable first-person description of the events surrounding the capture of General Charles Lee at Widow White’s Tavern in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, on December 13, 1776. Although he wrote it decades after the Revolution, Wilkinson wasn’t simply repeating a story; HE WAS THERE.
Serving with General Horatio Gates, Wilkinson was sent ahead on December 12 to locate Washington’s Army and determine the route Gates and his troops should follow. After learning at Sussex Court House that Washington had already crossed the Delaware, Wilkinson sought out General Lee. Riding through the night, he reached Lee’s quarters at White’s Tavern at approximately four o’clock on the morning of December 13. He found Lee still in bed, personally delivered Gates’s letter, and remained at the tavern through the morning.
At about ten o’clock, as Lee and his officers finished breakfast and Lee prepared a response to Gates, Wilkinson looked out a window and suddenly spotted British cavalry approaching the house. He sounded the alarm as Lieutenant Colonel William Harcourt’s dragoons surrounded the tavern. Lee was forced to surrender and was carried away, while Wilkinson and several others escaped capture when the British failed to search the house thoroughly.
Once the British withdrew, Wilkinson mounted the first available horse and rode at full speed to General John Sullivan with news of Lee’s capture. Sullivan assumed command of Lee’s troops and continued their march toward Washington’s Army. Wilkinson later rejoined Gates, becoming an important eyewitness and messenger who connected the dramatic events at Basking Ridge with the larger American movements that preceded the Trenton campaign.
What follows is Wilkinson’s own account of that extraordinary December morning and its immediate aftermath, reproduced from Volume I of his Memoirs of My Own Times. You can find the entire memoir here, starting on page 112.
If the PDF below is hard to read, scroll down to the transcription at the bottom of this page.
If the PDF below is hard to read, scroll down to the transcription at the bottom of this page.
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Transcription:
General Wilkinson’s Account of Lee’s Capture at Widow White’s in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
JAMES WILKINSON’S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
General Charles Lee’s Capture at Widow White’s Tavern
Basking Ridge, New Jersey – December 13, 1776
This account comes from General James Wilkinson’s Memoirs of My Own Times, published in 1816, and offers a remarkable first-person description of the events surrounding the capture of General Charles Lee at Widow White’s Tavern in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, on December 13, 1776. Although he wrote it decades after the Revolution, Wilkinson wasn’t simply repeating a story; he was there.
Serving with General Horatio Gates, Wilkinson was sent ahead on December 12 to locate Washington’s army and determine the route Gates and his troops should follow. After learning at Sussex Court House that Washington had already crossed the Delaware, Wilkinson sought out General Lee. Riding through the night, he reached Lee’s quarters at White’s Tavern at approximately four o’clock on the morning of December 13. He found Lee still in bed, personally delivered Gates’s letter, and remained at the tavern through the morning.
At about ten o’clock, as Lee and his officers finished breakfast and Lee prepared a response to Gates, Wilkinson looked out a window and suddenly spotted British cavalry approaching the house. He sounded the alarm as Lieutenant Colonel William Harcourt’s dragoons surrounded the tavern. Lee was forced to surrender and was carried away, while Wilkinson and several others escaped capture when the British failed to thoroughly search the house.
Once the British withdrew, Wilkinson mounted the first available horse and rode at full speed to General John Sullivan with news of Lee’s capture. Sullivan assumed command of Lee’s troops and continued their march toward Washington’s army. Wilkinson later rejoined Gates, becoming an important eyewitness and messenger who connected the dramatic events at Basking Ridge with the larger American movements that preceded the Trenton campaign.
What follows is Wilkinson’s own account of that extraordinary December morning and its immediate aftermath, reproduced from Volume I of his Memoirs of My Own Times.
ORIGINAL 1816 BOOK – HATHITRUST
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uva.x000613614&seq=6
MEMOIRS
OF
MY OWN TIMES.
BY
GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.
Remember that the ways of Heaven,
Though dark, are just: that of some guardian power,
Attends unseen, to save the innocent!
But if high Heaven decrees our fall—O let us
Firmly await the stroke; prepared alike
To live or die.
Brown’s Barbarossa.
For patriots still must fall for statesmen’s safety,
And perish by the country they preserve.
Savage.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
PHILADELPHIA:
PRINTED BY ABRAHAM SMALL.
1816.
Memoirs, page 102
girl had awoke; but his wanton levity was in a moment changed into painful apprehensions. Awaking out of a sound sleep in the dead of night, the unexpected and menacing appearance of an officer, with a Canadian capot, a scarlet undercoat, and a gold-laced hat, with a pistol in each hand, was sufficient to dissipate all sense of an amorous nature, and to excite those frigid sensations, which cannot be realized so sensibly as when an unarmed man believes himself in the power of an enemy. For a moment the gentlemen were struck dumb with alarm; literally naked and defenseless, and believing me to be a British officer, their situation appeared hopeless, and it was several seconds before they demanded, “Who are you?” The question was returned and repeated several times in the same breath, until, reflecting on the circumstance of my appearance with arms, I announced myself to that interesting companion and meritorious officer, Colonel George Gibson, who served through the revolutionary war, and gave his life to his country on the 4th of November, 1791, and to Joseph Nourse, esq. the present register of the treasury. Relieved by the discovery, Colonel Gibson seized my hand and exclaimed, “Colonel Wilkinson, so help me God! I never was so happy to make an acquaintance. By G—d! you have almost scared me out of a year’s growth.” These gentlemen had parted with General Lee the evening before, and were absent on furlough, and Mr. Nourse being General Lee’s private secretary, they could of course direct me with precision where to find him. Taking leave of them I pursued my journey, and about 4 o’clock in the morning reached his quarters, at White’s tavern, on Basking Ridge.
I was presented to the General as he lay in bed, and delivered into his hands the letter of General Gates. He examined the superscription, and observed it was addressed to General Washington, and declined opening it, until I apprised him of the contents and the motives of my visit; he then broke the seal and read it, after which
Memoirs, page 103
he desired me to take repose. I lay down on my blanket before a comfortable fire, amidst the officers of his suite; for we were not in those days incumbered with beds or baggage. I arose at the dawn, but could not see the General, with whom I had been previously acquainted, before eight o’clock. After some inquiries respecting the conduct of the campaign on the northern frontier, he gave me a brief account of the operations of the grand army, which he condemned in strong terms. He observed, “that our siege of Boston had led us into great errors; that the attempt to defend islands against a superior land and naval force was madness; that Sir William Howe could have given us check-mate at his discretion; and that we owed our salvation to his indolence, or disinclination to terminate the war.—When I reached the army on York Island,” said Lee, “all hands were busily employed in collecting materials and erecting barracks; and I found little Mifflin exulting in the prospect of fine winter quarters at Kingsbridge. I replied to him, Winter quarters here, Sir! and the British army still in the field! Go, set fire to those you have built, and get away by the light, or Sir William Howe will find quarters for you.”
This advice of Lee was generally understood; it obtained for him merited applause, and General Washington gave him due credit for it. He had also been opposed to the occupancy of Fort Washington,* and the fall of that place enhanced his military reputation, while unavoidable misfortunes, and the unfortunate issue of the campaign, originating in causes beyond the control of the commander in chief, had quickened the discontents generated at Cambridge, and raised a party against him in Congress; and it was confidently asserted at the time,
- I afterward conversed with General Greene, respecting this affair, who was chiefly blamed for attempting to hold the place, and I recollect well he observed, “I would to God, we had had 10,000 men there.” He was of the opinion the ground was tenable, and that it was lost by the insufficiency of our force; I am inclined to the same opinion, and the fact may now be ascertained.
Memoirs, page 104
but is not worthy of credit, that a motion had been made in that body, tending to supersede him in the command of the army. In this temper of the times, if General Lee had anticipated General Washington, in cutting the cordon of the enemy between New York and the Delaware, the commander in chief would probably have been superseded, and the man who lived the darling of his country, and died the admiration of the world, might have been consigned to retirement or oblivion. In this case Lee would have succeeded him, whose manifold infirmities would have been obscured by that honest but blind enthusiasm of the public, which never stoops to compare causes and effects, much less to analyze motives and measures. This officer’s genius, education, military observation, and peculiar talents for war, qualified him to fill with eclat, the most distinguished subordinate stations in command; but his disposition and habits were adverse to the preservation of public confidence, or the conciliation of personal feuds and discords; he would therefore soon have been displaced; successor upon successor would have followed him, and the calamities of the country would have kept pace with its impatience and caprice; yet, although the avowal may be more honest than discreet, I owe it to truth to declare, that after the declaration of independence, I could never subscribe to the sentiment, that the cause of the country, depended on the life or services of any individual: I always considered it impolitic to place our dependence on an ordinary casualty, and I rejected the humiliating idea, because it concentred in one man, the credit which belonged to the whole nation; not that the command could have been placed in safer or better hands than those of the immortalized Washington, but because other men would have been found, and General Greene in particular, to supply his place with effect, and more especially, because the severance of the British empire had been written in the book of fate, and the destiny of the North American colonies was protected by Him who governs the universe.
Memoirs, page 105
General Lee wasted the morning in altercation with certain militia corps who were of his command, particularly the Connecticut light horse,* several of whom appeared in large full-bottomed perukes, and were treated very irreverently; the call of the adjutant general for orders, also occupied some of his time, and we did not sit down to breakfast before 10 o’clock. General Lee was engaged in answering General Gates’s letter, and I had risen from the table, and was looking out of an end window, down a lane about one hundred yards in length, which led to the house from the main road, when I discovered a party of British dragoons turn a corner of the avenue at a full charge. Startled at this unexpected spectacle, I exclaimed, “Here, Sir, are the British cavalry.” “Where?” replied the General, who had signed his letter in the instant. “Around the house;” for they had opened files, and encompassed the building. General Lee appeared alarmed, yet collected, and his second observation marked his self-possession: “Where is the guard?—damn the guard, why don’t they fire?” and after a momentary pause, he turned to me and said, “Do, Sir, see what has become of the guard.” The women of the house at this moment entered the room, and proposed to him to conceal himself in a bed, which he rejected with evident disgust. I caught up my pistols which lay on the table, thrust the letter he had been writing into my pocket, and passed into a room at the opposite end of the house, where I had seen the guard in the morning. Here I discovered their arms; but the men were absent. I stepped out of the door, and perceived the dragoons chasing them in different directions, and receiving a very uncivil salutation, I returned into the house.
Too inexperienced immediately to penetrate the motives of this enterprise, I considered the rencontre acci-
- One wanted forage, another his horse shod, another his pay, a fourth provisions, &c.—to which the General replied, “Your wants are numerous; but you have not mentioned the last—you want to go home, and shall be indulged, for damn you, you do no good here.”
Memoirs, page 106
dental, and from the terrific tales spread over the country, of the violence and barbarity of the enemy, I believed it to be a wanton murdering party, and determined not to die without company. I accordingly sought a position where I could not be approached by more than one person at a time, and with a pistol in each hand I awaited the expected search, resolved to shoot the first and the second person who might appear, and then to appeal to my sword. I did not remain long in this unpleasant situation, but was apprised of the object of the incursion by the very audible declaration, “If the General does not surrender in five minutes, I will set fire to the house;” which after a short pause was repeated with a solemn oath; and within two minutes I heard it proclaimed, “Here is the General, he has surrendered.” A general shout ensued, the trumpet sounded the assembly, and the unfortunate Lee mounted on my horse, which stood ready at the door, was hurried off in triumph, bareheaded, in his slippers and blanket coat, his collar open, and his shirt very much soiled from several days’ use.
What a lesson of caution is to be derived from this event, and how important the admonition furnished by it. What evidence of the caprice of fortune, of the fallibility of ambitious projects, and the inscrutable ways of Heaven. The capture of General Lee was felt as a public calamity; it cast a gloom over the country, and excited general sorrow. This sympathy was honorable to the people, and due to the stranger who had embarked his fortune with theirs, and determined to share their fate, under circumstances of more than common peril. Although this misfortune deprived the country of its most experienced chief, I have ever considered the deprivation a public blessing, ministered by the hand of Providence; for if General Lee had not abandoned caution for convenience, and taken quarters two miles from his army, on his exposed flank, he would have been safe; if a domestic traitor who passed his quarters the same morning on private business, had not casually fallen in with Colonel Harcourt, on a reconnoitering party, the
Memoirs, page 107
general’s quarters would not have been discovered; if my visit, and the controversy with the Connecticut light horse, had not spun out the morning unseasonably, the General would have been at his camp; if Colonel Harcourt had arrived an hour sooner, he would have found the guard under arms, and would have been repulsed, or resisted until succour could have arrived; if he had arrived half an hour later, the General would have been with his corps; if the guard had paid ordinary attention to their duty and had not abandoned their arms,* the General’s quarters would have been defended; or if he had obeyed the peremptory and reiterated orders of General Washington, he would have been beyond the reach of the enemy.—And shall we impute to blind chance, such a chain of rare incidents? I conscientiously reply in the negative; because the combination was too intricate and perplexed for accidental causes, or the agency of man: it must have been designed.
General Lee merited severe punishment for his neglect of duty and disobedience of orders, and he received it from an unexpected hand. His offense was well understood by the army, and his misfortune was unpitied by those who reflected on the cause of it. It is a fact, he had very strong reasons for his neglect of General Washington’s reiterated commands; but although they were not such as to justify the violation of a fundamental military principle, yet I verily believe his motives were patriotic, though intimately connected with a sinister ambition; for I am persuaded that in the moment of his capture, he meditated a stroke against the enemy, which, in its consequences, would have depressed General Washington, elevated himself, and immediately served the cause of the United States. This opinion is supported by the following letter to General Gates.
- The morning being cold and the sun bright, they had left their station, crossed the main road, and were sunning themselves on the south side of a house about 200 yards from the tavern, which enabled Harcourt to cut them off from their arms.
Memoirs, page 108
“Basking Ridge, December 13, 1776.
“My dear Gates,
“The ingenious manœuvre of Fort Washington has unhinged the goodly fabric we had been building. There never was so damned a stroke. Entre nous, a certain great man is most damnably deficient. He has thrown me into a situation, where I have my choice of difficulties; if I stay in this province, I risk myself and army; and if I do not stay, the province is lost for ever. I have neither guides, cavalry, medicines, money, shoes or stockings. I must act with the greatest circumspection. Tories are in my front, rear, and on my flanks; the mass of the people is strangely contaminated; in short, unless something, which I do not expect, turns up we are lost; our counsels have been weak to the last degree. As to what relates to yourself, if you think you can be in time to aid the General, I would have you by all means go; you will at least save your army. It is said that the whigs are determined to set fire to Philadelphia; if they strike this decisive stroke, the day will be our own; but unless it is done, all chance of liberty in any part of the globe is for ever vanished. Adieu my dear friend! God bless you!
“CHARLES LEE.”
Education and experience instructed General Lee that Sir William Howe, by pushing his front towards Philadelphia, must weaken his communication with his magazines at Brunswick, and expose his cordon of posts to be cut: and he knew that the dissolution of a link in the chain would compel Sir William Howe to fall back and abandon a great portion of the conquests of the campaign; he knew also, that the shew of military force in the Jerseys was necessary to hold the enemy in check, and keep alive the spirit of resistance in that state; and that to hang on the flanks and rear of a victorious army, is the most effectual plan to impede its progress. Under these impressions, it would seem that General Lee had made
Memoirs, page 109
the determination to violate his orders, to trust to his fortune, and to hazard his fame on the issue of some bold enterprise; for we find him whiling away his time between the Hudson and the Delaware, by indolent marches and unnecessary halts, keeping always the route to General Washington’s headquarters, but at the same time, watching the movements of Sir William Howe, and waiting the period of his going into winter quarters. I have strong cause for belief, that the decisive moment had arrived, and that if Lee had not been made prisoner, he would have attacked the British post at Princeton the next morning, where the superiority of his force would have insured him success.
The author of these memoirs is aware that at this distance of time, the novelty of this exposition may excite surprise, and that to give it effect, it must be supported by facts and circumstances, at once strong and clear. He is sensible of the difficulty to convince men against their wills, and of the general propensity to cavil; but being himself unbiassed by any motives other than the development of truth, and having never doubted the soundness of his deductions, he will lay open the sources from whence they have been derived, to the consideration of the intelligent and the candid by whom alone he will submit to be judged.
General Lee had halted his division several days at Morristown, and marched thence, on the twelfth December, to Veal town, barely eight miles, a conclusive proof in itself, was other testimony wanting, of his determination not to cross the Delaware; but when Colonel Scammel, the adjutant general, called on him from General Sullivan, who was encamped with the troops, for orders of march on the morning of his capture, after musing a minute or two, he asked the Colonel if he had with him the manuscript map of the country, which was produced and spread on a table; it attracted my attention, and I observed General Lee trace with his finger, the route from Veal town to Pluckamin, thence to Somerset court-house, and on by Rocky hill to Princeton;
Memoirs, page 110
he then returned to Pluckamin, and traced the route in the same manner, by Bound Brook to Brunswick, and after a close inspection carelessly said to Scammel, “Tell General Sullivan to move down towards Pluckamin, that I will soon be with him.” This was off his route to Alexandria on the Delaware, where he had been ordered to cross, and directly on that towards Brunswick and Princeton. The better to illustrate this last route, I beg leave to quote the following distances, viz. from Veal town to Pluckamin 6 miles, from Pluckamin to Somerset court-house 8 miles, from this place to Rocky hill 11 miles, and thence to Princeton 2½, in the whole 27½, or at most 28 miles, a distance perfectly in his reach with fresh troops by the next morning. Combine these circumstances with his letter to General Gates, which I bore off unfolded, and we have a strong manifestation of his views and designs: the extraordinary tenor of that letter made impressions not to be effaced, and I have often wondered why it has been so long withheld from the world; for although it would have convicted General Lee of discontent, insubordination and disrespect to General Washington, it would have saved his character from the suspicion of defection to the cause he had espoused. The motive for the suppression will now be discerned, and justice will be rendered to the memory of an unfortunate man, who, however irregular his personal ambition, served this country with fidelity and effect.
But whether moved by personal ambition, by hostility to his chief, or by a spirit of patriotism, or whether governed by the combination of these motives, General Lee had reduced himself to the dilemma of abiding the sentence of a general court martial, for disobedience of peremptory orders, or of exciting by some “coup,” at once brilliant and solid, a blaze of popular applause, which might not only justify his offense, but give him the chief command. In such a case no man of pride and resolution could hesitate for the alternative; and it is on these facts and deductions I rest my hypothesis. It is for the world to examine, and weigh, and determine, the merits
Memoirs, page 111
of my conclusions; and whether the award be favorable or otherwise, they can produce no harm to my contemporaries or posterity, but may furnish a useful lesson to military men, WHO, IN ALL SITUATIONS, ARE MOST SAFE WHEN THEY BEST PERFORM THEIR DUTY.
So soon as Lieutenant-colonel Harcourt retreated with his prize, I repaired to the stable, mounted the first horse I could find, and rode full speed to General Sullivan, whom I found under march towards Pluckamin. I had not examined General Lee’s letter, but believing a knowledge of the contents might be useful to General Sullivan, who succeeded him in command, I handed it to him, who after the perusal, returned it with his thanks, and advised me to rejoin General Gates without delay, which I did the next morning at Sussex court-house, whither he had led the troops from Van Kempt’s.
Lee’s misfortune afflicted Gates profoundly: they had been long acquainted, had served together in the British army, and were personally attached; their politics and political connexions were in unison, and their sympathies and antipathies ran in the same current; yet long after and in misfortune they became estranged.*
The troops were soon put in motion, Brigadier-general Arnold leading the column by the direct road to Easton; General Gates with his suite and a light guard, proceeded on a devious route, and by a rapid march, reached the Delaware, some distance above Easton, at one Levy’s, about eight o’clock, where we halted for the night, the General observing that the Jews were whigs, but in consequence of certain inquiries made by Levy, which the General considered a little mysterious, he de-
- General Lee, in answer to his old aide-de-camp, Edwards, on this subject, observed, “The lady who is a closer calculator than her husband, believed it would be more profitable to worship the rising sun, than stick to a fallen friend; she therefore determined to pay her court by turning me out of doors. I do not blame Gates, because he has fallen under a most damnable gynaecocracy, and cannot help himself.” I read the letter, and quote from memory.
Memoirs, page 112
sired the party to conceal his name, and rank, as he did that of Colonel John Trumbull,* the deputy adjutant-general. The General called himself Captain Smith, of Berkley, Virginia; and on Levy’s observing, he thought he had seen the Colonel in Connecticut, the General answered, “No! he is a neighbor’s son in Berkley;” but this observation so sensibly alarmed him, that, although the night was very inclement, he ordered the horses to be saddled, and we made a perilous passage of the river, through floating ice, and marched until midnight, before we lay down, in a dirty stove room which almost suffocated me. The next morning we breakfasted at Nazareth, and reached Bethlehem in the afternoon, where we found General Arnold and our own corps, and also that of General Sullivan, who had changed his route the moment he found himself in command, and pressed forward to join the commander in chief.
The following letter from General Washington to General Gates, received at Bethlehem, will expose his forlorn condition, his apprehensions, his reliance on Heaven, his unimpaired fortitude, and the grounds of his hopes.
“Head Quarters, Dec. 14th, 1776.
“Dear Sir,
“Before this comes to hand, you will have heard of the melancholy situation of our affairs. I do not mean at this time to detail our misfortunes.—With a handful of men compared to the enemy’s force, we have pushed through the Jerseys, without being able to make the smallest opposition, and to pass the Delaware. General Howe is now on the other side, and beyond all question means, if possible, to possess himself of Philadelphia; his troops are extended from Penn’s Town (Pennington) to Burlington, and the main body, from the best advices at the former, are within the neighborhood of Trenton. I wish it were in my power to tell you that appearances were against his
- A meritorious officer, son of the sage and patriot, Governor Trumbull, and since one of the distinguished artists of our country.
Memoirs, page 113
success; at present I confess they are not. But few of the militia of this state have yet come out, except those belonging to the city, nor have I any great hope of their assistance, unless we can collect a respectable force; in such case, perhaps, they may turn out and afford their aid. I have heard you are coming on with seven regiments; this may have a happy effect; and let me intreat you not to delay a moment in hastening to Pitts town. You will advise me of your approaches, and of the time you expect to be there, that I may meet you with an express, and inform you of your destination, and such further movements as may be necessary. I expect General Lee will be there this evening or to-morrow, who will be followed by General Heath and his division. If we can draw our forces together, I trust under the smiles of Providence, we may yet effect an important stroke, or at least prevent General Howe from executing his plan. Philadelphia is now the object of our immediate care; you know the importance of it, and the fatal consequences that must attend its loss. I am persuaded no aid with you to give will be delayed a single instant. Your arrival may prove a most happy circumstance.
“The Congress have adjourned to Baltimore, but previously resolved that Philadelphia should be defended to the last extremity. Lord Sterling is going to meet General Lee, and concert with him a plan of operations. I wish you to be there, and would advise you not to wait the slow march of your troops. I have written to General Arnold to go to the eastward, on account of the intelligence from that quarter; his presence there will be of infinite service.
“I am, dear Sir,
“With great esteem,
“Your most obed’t serv’t,
“GO: WASHINGTON.
“Major-general Gates.”
The troops marched the next morning; the general officers followed in a day or two, and joined General
Memoirs, page 114
Washington in the neighborhood of Coryell’s ferry. The affairs of the United States were reduced at that awful period to the lowest ebb, and, although foreign to the design of these memoirs, a summary view of our situation on the western bank of the Delaware, and the circumstances which led to it, may not be unacceptable to the reader.
The irregular composition of the army of General Washington in the campaign of 1776, the inexperience of his officers and men in the essentials of military service, the defect of knowledge for the conduct of the several great departments, on which military operations chiefly depend, the total destitution of discipline, subordination, and police, the quality and condition of his arms, and the great defect of the munitions of war, baffled solid calculations, and forbade his reliance on the execution of specific enterprizes. Yet, notwithstanding the campaign opened with the unfortunate combat of Long Island; notwithstanding the inauspicious events which ensued that battle, until our army arrived at White Plains; the stand made in the vicinity of that place; General Howe’s refusal of a general action,* which was offered him on that ground, and his retreat to York Island, had retrieved character, renovated confidence, and in a great measure wiped off the effects of precedent disasters, at a period of the season, when, in former wars, it had been customary for the combatants to seek winter quarters. But our difficulties were about to commence, and may be traced, distinctly and unequivocally, to the insufficiency of our continental force, and the short term of our enlistments. These were the main sources of those losses and misfortunes, which pursued General Wash-
- See Major-general Heath’s Memoirs, p. 81–83. This officer commanded a division on the left of General Washington’s line, and did not change his position. See also Ramsay, vol. i. p. 395. See likewise the letters of Colonel R. H. Harrison, secretary of General Washington, written to Congress by his order from the 25th of October to the 3d November inclusive, and the General’s letter of the 6th November, after Sir William Howe fell back on Kingsbridge.