action over this
brief and final work of the campaign, for they had endured hard
service from the outset. Here was Greene's old brigade, which crossed
with him to Long Island on the 1st of May--Varnum's, Hitchcock's,
Little's, and, by a happy accident, Hand's, on the left--to assist in
reversing the record of the year. These men had built the lines around
Brooklyn; Hitchcock's and Little's at the Flatbush Pass had been
caught and all but captured in the surprise of August 27th; they
fought manfully, and suffered the most at Harlem Heights; many of them
responded to Washington's appeal to remain six weeks beyond their term
of service, and now they had shared in the successful manoeuvre at
Princeton, which changed the whole aspect of affairs.

Hitchcock, who had temporarily succeeded Nixon in command of the
brigade, received the thanks of Washington for himself and for his men
in front of Princeton College for their aid and conduct in the action.
But the colonel, a brilliant, promising officer, whose regiment built
and guarded Fort Putnam in Brooklyn, was destined to only a brief
career henceforth. Overcome by the fatigue and hardships of the
campaign, he died in camp at Morristown, on the 13th of January, and
was buried by the Philadelphia and Delaware Light Infantry companies,
under Rodney, with all the honors of war. It was a fitting escort to
the remains of the brave soldier, for Rodney and most of his men had
behaved well at Princeton.

Sullivan's troops drove the other two British regiments out of
Princeton towards Brunswick, and Washington's tired army then pushed
on, and on the 6th went into camp at Morristown.[226]

[Footnote 226: In connection with the battles of Trenton and
Princeton, read the interesting letters from Knox, Haslet, Rodney, and
Hull in Part II. They have all appeared since our general accounts
were written.]

* * * * *

The effect of these two unexpected strokes at Trenton and Princeton
was to baffle Howe, and utterly disconcert his plans. Expecting to
march upon Philadelphia at his leisure, he suddenly finds Washington
turning about and literally cutting his way through the British posts,
back to a point where he threatened Howe's flank and rear. The enemy
were at once compelled to retire from all their positions below
Brunswick, give up the thought of wintering in Philadelphia, and fall
back to the vicinity of New York. When Horace Walpole heard of these
m