Trenton and captured them all.
The outpost at Burlington, on hearing the news, retreated to Princeton.
By the 31st Washington had got all his available force across to
Trenton. Some of them were raw recruits just come in to replace others
who had just gone home. At this critical moment the army was nearly
helpless for want of money, and on New Year's morning Robert Morris was
knocking at door after door in Philadelphia, waking up his friends to
borrow the fifty thousand dollars which he sent off to Trenton before
noon. The next day Cornwallis arrived at Princeton, and taking with him
all the army, except a rear-guard of 2000 men left to protect his
communications, came on toward Trenton.

When he reached that town, late in the afternoon, he found Washington
entrenched behind a small creek just south of the town, with his back
toward the Delaware river. "Oho!" said Cornwallis, "at last we have run
down the old fox, and we will bag him in the morning." He sent back to
Princeton, and ordered the rear-guard to come up. He expected next
morning to cross the creek above Washington's right, and then press him
back against the broad and deep river, and compel him to surrender.
Cornwallis was by no means a careless general, but he seems to have gone
to bed on that memorable night and slept the sleep of the just.

[Sidenote: Battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777.]

Washington meanwhile was wide awake. He kept his front line noisily at
work digging and entrenching, and made a fine show with his campfires.
Then he marched his army to the right and across the creek, and got
around Cornwallis's left wing and into his rear, and so went on gayly
toward Princeton. At daybreak he encountered the British rear-guard,
fought a sharp battle with it and sent it flying, with the loss of
one-fourth of its number. The booming guns aroused Cornwallis too late.
To preserve his communications with New York, he was obliged to retreat
with all haste upon New Brunswick, while Washington's victorious army
pushed on and occupied the strong position at Morristown.

There was small hope of dislodging such a general from such a position.
But to leave Washington in possession of Morristown was to resign to him
the laurels of this half-year's work. For that position guarded the
Highlands of the Hudson on the one hand, and the roads to Philadelphia
on the other. Except that the British had taken the city of New
York--which from the start was almost a foreg