imagination to dwell upon." "An appalling massacre," says
another, "thus closed the combat." "The forest," writes a
Hessian officer, "was a scene of horror; there were
certainly two thousand killed and wounded lying about." Lord
Howe himself, as we have seen, "computed" that the American
loss in killed and wounded alone was two thousand three
hundred. But a striking commentary on this computation is
not only the total omission on his part to mention how many
of this very large number he buried on the field, but the
important admission he makes that not more than sixty-seven
wounded American officers and soldiers fell into his hands!
Where were the twenty-two hundred other maimed and fallen
rebels? Obviously, and as Howe must have well known, the
Americans could carry few if any of their dead with them on
their precipitate retreat, nor could any but the slightly
hurt of the wounded make their escape. Full two thousand, by
this calculation, must have been left upon the field. Who
buried them? Were they the victims of the supposed frightful
slaughter? Did the British general purposely give an evasive
estimate to cover up the inhumanity which would thus have
forever stained the glory of his victory? Far from it. That
"computation" has no basis to stand upon; but, on the
contrary, our loss in killed and wounded was not greater
than the enemy's, but most probably less.

This statement will bear close examination. On the 19th of
September, after he must have been able to satisfy himself
as to the extent of the defeat on Long Island, the
commander-in-chief wrote to the Massachusetts Assembly that
he had lost about eight hundred men, "more than three
fourths of which were taken prisoners." He wrote the same
thing to others. So Washington felt authorized to state
positively that we lost in killed and wounded that day not
over two hundred men and officers. "The enemy's loss in
killed," he added, "we could never ascertain; but have many
reasons to believe that it was pretty considerable, and
exceeded ours a good deal." General Parsons, who saw as much
of the field as any other officer, wrote to John Adams two
days after the battle: "Our loss in killed and wounded is
inconsiderable." General Scott, writing to John Jay, a week
later,