) of
attacking forts Washington and Lee and invading New Jersey. In
anticipation of this move Putnam was detached with about four thousand
men and ordered into New Jersey. Crossing the Hudson, he penetrated
inland as far as Hackensack, near which place he encamped and awaited
developments.

General Lee was left at North Castle Heights with seven thousand men to
watch the movements of the foe, while Washington followed after Putnam
to Hackensack. He was shortly recalled to the Hudson by a despatch
informing him that the British were before Fort Washington in
overwhelming force, and had demanded a surrender. Brave Colonel Magaw,
in command of the garrison, refused a reply until he had consulted his
superior officers, and as General Greene, in charge of both forts, was
of the opinion that they could be held, the result was the storming of
the fort and the loss of more than two thousand men.

The assault of the British, who had threatened to put the garrison to
the sword, was witnessed by Washington, Greene, and Putnam from the west
bank of the Hudson. Their distress may be imagined at beholding the
slaughter that ensued, and there must have been some searching
self-questioning by the Commander-in-Chief as to the wisdom of his
policy, by which his divided forces became such an easy prey to the foe.

Lee could hardly be induced to leave his secure retreat, from which he
departed only after repeated requests from Washington, whose great
reliance at this time was sturdy Israel Putnam. He assisted at the
evacuation of Fort Lee (now rendered useless by the loss of its sister
fort across the river), and piloted the commander and his friends to his
camp at Hackensack.

British troops under Lord Cornwallis had landed above Fort Lee at the
base of the Palisades, and were now coming down to attempt to cut off
the Americans before they could extricate themselves from the marshes
lying between the Hudson and the Hackensack rivers. The latter left so
precipitately that their fires were burning, with camp kettles over
them, and tents still standing, when the British reached Fort Lee.

Parallel with the Hackensack River runs the Passaic, and across country
between the two Washington was compelled to hasten, lest he be hemmed in
again by the pursuing enemy. It was now late in November, the weather
was cold, and gloomy were these "dark days of the Revolution," when the
militia left the army by hundreds, their terms of enlistment having