ightly; Henshaw and Cornell
brought their men in without much loss, and in comparatively good
order; the greatest blow to the Jerseymen was the death of their brave
colonel, Johnston, their casualties otherwise being light; and
Knowlton's hundred rangers just saved themselves from the dragoons,
"with the utmost difficulty and on the full run." The artillerymen
suffered more. General Sullivan himself, after showing good courage
and avoiding capture until noon, endeavored to conceal himself, but
was found and made prisoner by three Hessian grenadiers.[152]

[Footnote 152: During this fighting by the British infantry,
Cornwallis and the reserves moved straight down the Jamaica Road. The
Thirty-third Regiment and the grenadiers in their pursuit of some of
the American fugitives approached the fortified lines between Fort
Greene and Fort Putnam, and showed such eagerness to storm them that,
according to Howe's report, it required repeated orders to hold them
back. On the part of the Americans, Little reports that the enemy
"attempted to force our lines, but soon retreated, being met with a
smart fire from our breastworks;" and Little, no doubt, was at Fort
Greene, an eye-witness.]

* * * * *

The day was lost at the left and centre, and it only remains to return
to Stirling on the right. This general stood his ground firmly, though
the firing in his rear grew ominously distinct. He refused to
retreat, says Scott, for want of orders. If Sullivan sent him orders,
as we have assumed on one writer's authority that he did, they failed
to reach him. The time had come for the general to act on his own
judgment, and finding his salvation dependent on an immediate retreat,
he fell back from Grant's front between eleven and twelve o'clock, but
only to discover that he too was surrounded. The force which had
anticipated him was Cornwallis with the Seventy-first Regiment and the
Second Grenadiers, and they were holding his line of retreat on the
Gowanus Road. Stirling, realizing his danger, at once determined upon
the only manoeuvre that promised escape for any of his command. Upon
his left lay the Gowanus marsh and creek, where both were at their
broadest, and where a crossing had never been attempted. But now the
attempt must be made, or every man is lost. Upon the other side of the
creek are the Brooklyn peninsula, the lines, and safety. Stirling
therefore ordered his men to make their way across as