by the French was garrisoned by a greater force,
and was not so easily overcome. It was defended by a lieutenant-colonel,
and one hundred and fifty men. After a combat of nearly half an hour,
the redoubt was surrendered. Eighteen of the garrison were killed, and
forty-two were made prisoners. The French lost in killed and wounded
about one hundred men.

"During the night of the fourteenth these redoubts were included in the
second parallel, and by five o'clock the next afternoon some howitzers,
which had been placed in them, were opened upon the British works.

"The situation of Cornwallis was now becoming dangerous. Beleaguered on
all sides by a superior force, his strongest defenses crumbling or
passing into the possession of the besiegers, and no tidings from
General Clinton to encourage him, the British commander was filled with
the gloomiest apprehensions.

"Knowing that the town would be untenable when the second parallel
should be completed, he sent out a detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel
Abercrombie, to make a sortie against the two almost completed batteries
guarded by French troops. They made a furious assault at about four
o'clock in the morning and were successful; but the guards at the
trenches soon drove the assailants back, and their enterprise was
fruitless of advantage.

"Cornwallis, confident that he could not maintain his position,
determined to make a desperate effort at flight. His plan was to leave
the sick and his baggage behind; cross over to Gloucester, and, with his
detachment there, disperse the French troops; mount his infantry on
horses taken from the duke's legion, and others that might be seized in
the neighborhood; by rapid marches gain the forks of the Rappahannock
and the Potomac, and, forcing his way through Maryland, Pennsylvania,
and New Jersey, form a junction with the army in New York.

"This was a most hazardous undertaking, but his only alternative was
flight or capture. Boats were accordingly prepared, and at ten o'clock
on the evening of the sixteenth a portion of his troops were conveyed
across to Gloucester. So secretly was the whole movement performed that
the patriots did not perceive it, and had not a power mightier than man
interposed an obstacle, Cornwallis's desperate plan might have been
successfully accomplished.

"The first body of troops had scarcely reached Gloucester Point when a
storm of wind and rain, almost as sudden and fierce as a summer tornado,
mad