ashington still before him. The latter had got far in the
advance during the delays caused by the broken bridge at Stony Brook,
and the alteration of his course at Kingston had carried him
completely out of the way of Cornwallis. His lordship reached
Brunswick towards evening, and endeavored to console himself by the
safety of the military stores for being so completely foiled and
out-manoeuvred.

Washington in the meantime was all on the alert; the lion part of his
nature was aroused; and while his weary troops were resting at
Pluckamin, he was despatching missives and calling out aid to enable
him to follow up his successes. In a letter to Putnam, he says: "The
enemy appear to be panic-struck. I am in hopes of driving them out of
the Jerseys. March the troops under your command to Crosswicks, and
keep a strict watch upon the enemy in this quarter." To General Heath,
also, who was stationed in the Highlands of the Hudson, he wrote at
the same harried moment: "The enemy are in great consternation; and as
the panic affords us a favorable opportunity to drive them out of the
Jerseys, it has been determined in council that you should move down
towards New York with a considerable force, as if you had a design
upon the city. That being an object of great importance, the enemy
will be reduced to the necessity of withdrawing a considerable part of
their force from the Jerseys, if not the whole, to secure the city."

These letters despatched, he continued forward to Morristown, where at
length he came to a halt from his incessant and harassing marchings.
There he learnt that General Mercer was still alive. He immediately
sent his nephew, Major George Lewis, under the protection of a flag to
attend upon him. Lewis found him languishing in great pain; he had
been treated with respect by the enemy and great tenderness by the
benevolent family who had sheltered him. He expired on the 12th of
January, in the fifty-sixth year of his age.

From Morristown, Washington again wrote to General Heath, repeating
his former orders. To Major-general Lincoln, also, who was just
arrived at Peekskill, and had command of the Massachusetts militia, he
writes on the 7th: "General Heath will communicate mine of this date
to you, by which you will find that the greater part of your troops
are to move down towards New York to draw the attention of the enemy
to that quarter." Colonel Reed was ordered to send out rangers and
bodies of militia to sco