ks on the north and south by General Knyphausen and Lord
Percy, were made about the same instant, on Colonels Rawlings and
Cadwallader, who maintained their ground for a considerable time; but,
while Colonel Cadwallader was engaged in the first line against Lord
Percy, the second and third divisions which had crossed Haerlem River
made good their landing, and dispersed the troops fronting that river,
as well as a detachment sent by Colonel Cadwallader to support them.
Thus being overpowered, and the British advancing between the fort and
the lines, it became necessary to abandon them. In retreating to the
fort, some of the men were intercepted by the division under Colonel
Stirling, and made prisoners.

The resistance on the north was of longer duration. Rawlings
maintained his ground with firmness, and his riflemen did vast
execution. A three gun battery also played on Knyphausen with great
effect. At length, the Hessian columns gained the summit of the hill;
after which, Colonel Rawlings, who perceived the danger which
threatened his rear, retreated under the guns of the fort.

[Sidenote: The lines of Fort Washington carried by the enemy, and the
garrison made prisoners.]

Having carried the lines, and all the strong ground adjoining them,
the British general again summoned Colonel Magaw to surrender. While
the capitulation was in a course of arrangement, General Washington
sent him a billet, requesting him to hold out until the evening, when
means should be attempted to bring off the garrison. But Magaw had
proceeded too far to retreat; and it is probable the place could not
have resisted an assault from so formidable a force as threatened it.
The greatest difficulties had been overcome; the fort was too small to
contain all the men; and their ammunition was nearly exhausted. Under
these circumstances the garrison became prisoners of war.

The loss on this occasion was the greatest the Americans had ever
sustained. The garrison was stated by General Washington at about two
thousand men. Yet, in a report published as from General Howe, the
number of prisoners is said to be two thousand and six hundred,
exclusive of officers. Either General Howe must have included in his
report persons who were not soldiers, or General Washington must have
comprehended the regulars only in his letter. The last conjecture is
most probably correct. The loss of the assailants, according to Mr.
Stedman, amounted to eight hundred men. T