ing nearly an equal
reputation for his achievements.

* * * * *

This disaster at Fort Washington, the heaviest suffered by the
Americans during the entire war, closed the campaign in the vicinity
of New York. All the western part of Long Island, New York City, and
all Manhattan Island, had fallen into the possession of the British,
and their fleet came into undisturbed control of the Hudson, the East
River, and the waters of the Sound. Every thing that Washington and
his soldiers had sought to secure and defend was wrested from their
hands. Their losses too, in men and material, were almost
irreparable. Much the greater part of their artillery had been
captured--two hundred and eighteen pieces of all calibres, according
to the enemy's report. Three hundred and twenty-nine officers and four
thousand one hundred men had been taken prisoners; nearly six hundred
had been killed or wounded; and numbers had been swept off by disease.
The enemy suffered more heavily, except in prisoners and cannon, in
which their loss was nothing; but they had recovered territory, won
victories, and they were now to find before them only a flying and
dissolving body of rebels.

The situation at this point presented a gloomy prospect for America.
But had the cause been then surrendered, we could still contemplate
this struggle around New York and Brooklyn with respect, as a noble
effort to gain an end worth fighting for. As success, however, was
finally achieved, and achieved through the experience of these events,
they challenge our deepest interest.

CHAPTER VIII.

TRENTON--PRINCETON--CLOSE OF THE CAMPAIGN.

To appreciate the full significance of what has been described in the
preceding pages, follow the campaign in outline to its closing scenes.

Thus far the American army had met with nothing but defeat, retreat,
sacrifice, hardship, and discouragement. First came the months of
preparation, with England straining every nerve to conquer the
colonies; then the first and disastrous collision on Long Island, on
which so much depended; then the retreat, the loss of New York, the
withdrawal to White Plains, and a battle which was not a victory for
the Americans; and, finally, the heavy blow struck in the fall of Fort
Washington. Much had been endured and learned alike by general and
private soldier during these gloomy months, and both were now destined
to profit by the trial. All this faith and pat