the bay with a superior armament. Thus
fairly entrapped, he endeavored to extricate his force with as little
loss as possible. Before news of Collier's arrival could reach the
fort, he re-embarked his troops in the transports to make their escape
up the river. His armed vessels were drawn up in a crescent as if to
give battle, but it was merely to hold the enemy in check. They soon
gave way; some were captured, others were set on fire or blown up, and
abandoned by their crews. The transports being eagerly pursued and in
great danger of being taken, disgorged the troops and seamen on the
wild shores of the river: whence they had to make the best of their
way to Boston, struggling for upwards of a hundred miles through a
pathless wilderness, before they reached the settled parts of the
country.

If Washington was chagrined by the signal failure of this expedition,
he was cheered by the better fortune of one set on foot about the same
time, under his own eye, by his young friend, Major Henry Lee of the
Virginia dragoons. This active and daring officer had frequently been
employed by him in scouring the country on the west side of the Hudson
to collect information; keep an eye upon the enemy's posts; cut off
their supplies, and check their foraging parties. The _coup de main_
at Stony Point had piqued his emulation. In the course of his
reconnoitring, and by means of spies, he had discovered that the
British post at Paulus Hook, immediately opposite to New York, was
very negligently guarded. Paulus Hook is a long low point of the
Jersey shore, stretching into the Hudson, and connected to the main
land by a sandy isthmus. A fort had been erected on it, and garrisoned
with four or five hundred men, under the command of Major Sutherland.
It was a strong position. A creek, fordable only in two places,
rendered the hook difficult of access. Within this, a deep trench had
been cut across the isthmus, traversed by a drawbridge with a barred
gate; and still within this was a double row of abatis, extending into
the water. Confident in the strength of his position, and its distance
from any American force, Major Sutherland had become remiss in his
military precautions. All this had been ascertained by Major Lee; and
he now proposed the daring project of surprising the fort at night,
and thus striking an insulting blow "within cannon shot of New York."
Washington was disposed to favor the adventurous schemes of this young
officer.