these the men with which I am to defend America!" Snapping his pistols at some of them, and drawing his sword in the bootless effort to check others, he became utterly regardless of his own safety, and was so near the enemy, only eighty paces distant, that he might easily have been made prisoner. One of his aides seized the reins of his horse and hurried him away from that point of imminent danger. Such moments as these reveal, in part, at least, the depth and vehemence of Washington's spirit when it was thoroughly roused.[1]
Orders were given to evacuate the city of New York at once. The retreat was effected, not without loss and in great haste; all the heavy artillery, and a large portion of the baggage, provisions and military stores were unavoidably abandoned to the enemy. Had it not been for delays on the part of the British for refreshments at Murray Hill, the entire force of the Americans, under Putnam, would almost certainly have been cut off. Hence, there was as much truth as poetry in the remark of Colonel Grayson, that "Mrs. Murray saved the American army."
The royal troops immediately entered the city, where they were warmly received by the Tories. The bitterest feelings existed between the two hostile parties, and it was fearfully exemplified by means of an accident that occurred a few nights after the occupation. This was a fire, which broke out in the dead of the very night when Hale reached New York, September 21st, and owing to the drought of the season and a strong south wind, increased with alarming rapidity. Upwards of a thousand buildings, Trinity church among the number,[2] were consumed, and but for the exertions of the soldiers and sailors, the whole city would probably have been destroyed. In the excited state of party feeling, it was said that the "Sons of Liberty" were the incendiaries, with a view to drive out the army, and several suspected persons were hurled into the blazing buildings by the British soldiers.
It was with no little satisfaction that Washington beheld the good conduct of the very troops who had so scandalously abandoned the field at Kip's Bay; for, in a skirmish, on the 16th, the day after the British took possession of New York, a detachment, under the brave Colonel Knowlton, supported by troops under Major Leitch, met the enemy, repulsed them with spirit, and were with difficulty recalled from the pursuit. Unhappily, both Major Leitch and Colonel Knowlton were mortally wounded. Washington's praise of the latter was, that he was a man who "would have done honor to any country." The effect of this encounter with the British, was of the best description upon the whole army.
- ↑ General Greene, in writing to a friend, as quoted by Mr. Irving, says, "We made a miserable, disorderly retreat from New York, owing to the conduct of the militia, who ran at the appearance of the enemy's advanced guard. Fellows' and Parsons brigades ran away from about fifty men, and left his Excellency on the ground, within eighty yards of the enemy, so vexed at the infamous conduct of his troops, that he sought death rather than life."
- ↑ See Dr. Berrian's "History of Trinity Church," pp. 144,5.
