han half the officers, and one third of the soldiers were
killed and wounded. Colonel Marshall, whose horse had
received two balls, then retired in good order to resume his
position on the right of his division; but it had already
retreated.]

[Footnote 65: Deboore's brigade broke first; and, on an
inquiry into his conduct being directed, he resigned. A
misunderstanding existed between him and Sullivan, on whose
right he was stationed.]

The official letter of Sir William Howe stated his loss at rather less
than one hundred killed, and four hundred wounded. As the Americans
sustained very little injury in the retreat, this inequality of loss
can be ascribed only to the inferiority of their arms. Many of their
muskets were scarcely fit for service; and, being of unequal calibre,
their cartridges could not be so well fitted, and, consequently, their
fire could not do as much execution as that of the enemy. This radical
defect was felt in all the operations of the army.

From the ardour with which the Commander-in-chief had inspired his
troops before this action, it is probable that the conflict would have
been more severe, had the intelligence respecting the movement on the
left of the British army been less contradictory. Raw troops, changing
their ground in the moment of action, and attacked in the agitation of
moving, are easily thrown into confusion. This was the critical
situation of a part of Sullivan's division, and was the cause of the
right's breaking before Greene could be brought up to support it;
after which, it was impossible to retrieve the fortune of the day.

But had the best disposition of the troops been made at the time,
which subsequent intelligence would suggest, the action could not have
terminated in favour of the Americans. Their inferiority in numbers,
in discipline, and in arms, was too great to leave them a probable
prospect of victory. A battle, however, was not to be avoided. The
opinion of the public, and of congress, demanded it. The loss of
Philadelphia, without an attempt to preserve it, would have excited
discontents which, in the United States, might be productive of
serious mischief; and action, though attended with defeat, provided
the loss be not too great, must improve an army in which, not only the
military talents, but even the courage, of officers, some of them of
high rank, remained to be ascertained.

Among the wounded was the Marqui