, three officers and twenty-three men
wounded. Howe's total loss, in a word, was made to appear at
less than four hundred; Washington's full three thousand
three hundred.

The apparent exactness of this report has secured it, in
general, against close analysis. English historians, almost
without exception, quote it as it stands, while there are
American writers who respect it so far as to pronounce
Washington's report clearly, and even purposely, inaccurate.
Thus the most recent English history of this period says:
"The Americans fled in confusion, leaving upwards of three
thousand killed, wounded, and prisoners, including their
three generals of division;" and in a note the writer adds:
"Washington's estimate of the loss on both sides was grossly
incorrect. In his letter to Congress of the 30th August,
giving a very meagre and evasive account of the action, he
says that his loss in killed and prisoners was from 700 to
1000; and that he had reason to believe the enemy had
suffered still more. This would seem to be a wilful
misrepresentation to prevent the public alarm which might
have been caused by the knowledge of his real loss; were it
not that in a private letter to his brother, three weeks
afterwards, he makes a similar statement. General Howe's
returns of _prisoners_, and of his own killed and wounded,
are precise." (_History of England during the Reign of
George the Third._ By the Right Hon. William Massey, 1865.)
Among Brooklyn writers, Mr. Field asserts that Washington
concealed the actual extent of his loss, and Dr. Stiles
accepts the British report as it stands. Marshall puts the
American loss at over 1000; Irving, 2000; Lossing, 1650;
Field, 2000; Sparks, 1100; Bancroft, 800; Carrington, 970.
Stedman, the earliest British historian, gives 2000, while
Adolphus, Jesse, and Massey, who cover the reign of George
III., blindly follow Howe and give over 3000 for the
American loss.

There is but one explanation of this wide discrepancy
between the British and American returns, namely:
Washington's original estimate at its largest limit--one
thousand, killed, wounded, and prisoners--_was almost
precisely correct_.

Of this there can be no question whatever, the proof being a
matter of record. Thus, on the 8t