n the enemy's
camp.[171] "We kept up fires, with outposts stationed," says
Lieutenant-Colonel Chambers, "until all the rest were over. We left
the lines after it was fair day and then came off." As our soldiers
withdrew they distinctly heard the sound of pickaxe and shovel at the
British works.[172] Before seven o'clock the entire force had crossed
to New York, and among the last to leave was the commander-in-chief.
"General Washington," adds Chambers, "saw the last over himself."

[Footnote 171: Mr. Reed, the biographer, states that the fog rose on
the 29th. Dr. Stiles, in his "History of Brooklyn," says: "At midnight
a dense fog arose, which remained motionless and impenetrable over the
island during the whole of the next day [the 29th]." "A dense fog,"
writes Mr. Field, "hung over the island and river, when the morning of
the 29th dawned." Now nothing is more certain than that the fog did
not rise until shortly before dawn of the 30th, full six hours after
the retreat had begun. The 28th and 29th, as already seen, were days
of rain-storms, not mist, nor fog, but storm, "torrents," such rain at
times the like of which could "hardly be remembered." Contemporary
writers who mention the rains say nothing of fog on the 29th, whereas
they do notice its appearance the next morning. Major Tallmadge
writes: "As the dawn of the next day approached, those of us who
remained in the trenches became very anxious for our own safety, and
when the dawn appeared, there were several regiments still on duty. At
this time a very dense fog began to rise, and it seemed to settle in a
peculiar manner over both encampments. I recollect this peculiar
providential occurrence perfectly well; and so very dense was the
atmosphere that I could scarcely discern a man at six yards'
distance." This officer's regiment was one of the covering party, and
he adds that after leaving the lines by mistake, and receiving orders
to return, "Col. Chester immediately faced to the right about and
returned, where we tarried until the sun had risen, but the fog
remained as dense as ever." "At sunrise a great fog came up," says a
spectator (_Stiles' MS. Diary_). An officer or soldier of either
Shee's or Magaw's regiment, also of the covering party, wrote a few
hours after crossing: "We received orders to quit our station about
two o'clock this morning, and had made our retreat almost to the ferry
when Gen. Washington ordered us back to that part of the lines we wer