y Clinton, who, seeing the force under Lee descending on his rear
from Freehold heights, had suddenly turned upon it, aided by troops
from Knyphausen's division, to oblige it to call to its assistance the
flanking parties under Morgan and Dickinson, which were threatening
his baggage train. So that Lee, instead of a mere covering party which
he had expected to cut off, had found himself front to front with the
whole rear division of the British army; and that too, on unfavorable
ground, with a deep ravine and a morass in his rear.

At daybreak the drums beat the reveille. The troops roused themselves
from their heavy sleep, and prepared for action. To their surprise,
the enemy had disappeared: there was a deserted camp, in which were
found four officers and about forty privates, too severely wounded to
be conveyed away by the retreating army. Sir Henry Clinton, it
appeared, had allowed his wearied troops but short repose on the
preceding night. At ten o'clock, when the American forces were buried
in their first sleep, he had set forward to join the division under
Knyphausen, which, with the baggage train, having pushed on during the
action, was far on the road to Middletown. So silent had been his
retreat, that it was unheard by General Poor's advance party, which
lay near by.

The distance to which the enemy must by this time have attained, the
extreme heat of the weather, and the fatigued condition of the troops,
deterred Washington from continuing a pursuit through a country where
the roads were deep and sandy, and there was great scarcity of water.
Besides, persons well acquainted with the country assured him that it
would be impossible to annoy the enemy in their embarkation, as he
must approach the place by a narrow passage, capable of being defended
by a few men against his whole force. Detaching General Maxwell's
brigade and Morgan's rifle corps, therefore, to hang on the rear of
the enemy, prevent depredation and encourage desertions, he determined
to shape his course with his main body by Brunswick toward the Hudson,
lest Sir Henry should have any design upon the posts there.

The American loss in the recent battle was eight officers and
sixty-one privates killed, and about one hundred and sixty wounded.
The officers who had charge of the burying parties reported that they
found two hundred and forty-five non-commissioned officers and
privates, and four officers, left dead by the enemy on the field of
battl