inguished himself in this and many other
wars. The town was full of plunder gathered by the troops, the
Hessians having been looting the country for weeks; and he could not
abandon it without a struggle. The idea of flying from a band of
ragged rebels whom he had scouted, was intolerable. He had been, he
now felt, more than culpable in neglecting many warnings of attack, and
had lamentably failed in his duty as a soldier, in refraining from
taking the commonest precautions against surprise. He had refused to
heed the urgent representations of Von Dechow, and other of his high
officers. Now his honor was at stake; so he rashly made up his mind to
charge.

"We will retake the town. All who are my grenadiers--forward!" he
cried intrepidly.

The men, with fixed bayonets, advanced bravely, and he led them
gallantly forward, sword in hand. The Americans fired a volley;
Forest's battery, which enfiladed them, poured in a deadly fire. Rahl
in the advance, upon his horse, received a fatal wound and fell to the
ground. The Continentals, cheering madly, charged forward with fixed
bayonets. The Hessians stopped--hesitated--wavered--their chief was
gone--the battle was lost--they broke and fled! Disregarding the
commands and appeals of their officers, they turned quickly to the
right, and ran off into the face of Hand's riflemen, who received them
with another volley. Many of them fell. A body of Virginia troops led
by Talbot now gained their left flank, the Philadelphia City Troop
encircled their rear. The helpless men stopped, completely bewildered,
huddled together in a confused mass. Washington, seeing imperfectly,
and thinking they were forming again, ordered the guns from Forest's
battery, which had been loaded with canister, to be discharged upon
them at once.

"Sir, they have struck!" cried Seymour the keen-eyed, preventing the
men from firing.

"Struck!" cried the general, in surprise.

"Yes, sir; their colors are down."

"So they are," said Washington, clasping his hands and raising his eyes
to heaven; then, putting spurs to his horse, he galloped over toward
the men. The firing had ceased in every direction, and the day was his
own; the three regiments were surrendering at discretion, two to him
and the other to Lord Stirling. As Major Wilkinson galloped up from
the lower division for instructions, Colonel Rahl, pale and bleeding,
and supported by two sergeants, presented his sword, which Washing