. New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen. had an army been closer to by the immediate presence of theKings veteran troops, absolutely exposed in acul-de-sac between the lower valleys of the Hack-ensack and Passaic Rivers, with the British pre-paring to land their forces on the Raritan or New-ark Bay, cutting off retreat to the southwest,Washingtons situation was desperate. But with-in the camp there was even less to lend a ray ofhope. Without proper military equipment, sadlyin need of food, surrounded by those who weredisaffected, his forces
. New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen. had an army been closer to by the immediate presence of theKings veteran troops, absolutely exposed in acul-de-sac between the lower valleys of the Hack-ensack and Passaic Rivers, with the British pre-paring to land their forces on the Raritan or New-ark Bay, cutting off retreat to the southwest,Washingtons situation was desperate. But with-in the camp there was even less to lend a ray ofhope. Without proper military equipment, sadlyin need of food, surrounded by those who weredisaffected, his forces depleted by desertion orexpirations of terms of service, but one courseiay open—retreat. Upon the 21st of NovemberWashington crossed the Acquackanonk bridgeto the west side of the Passaic and commencedthe retreat, closely pursued by the British; soclosely indeed, that, as W. S. Baker says in his Itinerary of General Washington, often themusic of the pursued and the pursuer would beheard by each other, yet no action occurred. From the 22d un^tho 2«th-^V^hington re-. FORT LEK IN 1776. 134 NEW JERSEY AS A COL mained in Newark, on the 29th reaching NewBrunswick, where a halt was made until Decem-ber 1. Early the next morning Washington ar-rived in Princeton, where, leaving troops underGeneral Stirling to watch the advance of theBritish, Washington pushed on through Lawrence-ville to Trenton. Arriving on the east bank of theDelaware, the military stores and equipmentswere collected and by the 8th of December theimpedimenta of war were scattered along thePennsylvania shore of the river. It is one of the remarkable problems of militaryhistory that the British commander-in-chief didnot immediately follow up the advantage gainedat Fort Lee. Possibly an explanation is to befound in the self-confidence of Howe. His com-paratively easy conquest of Manhattan Island hadled him to underestimate the subjective power ofthe Revolutionary movement, his love of ease andthe attractions of New Yo
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