men with him. The march of the British across New
Jersey was hardly opposed, though Washington
retreated slowly before them, destroying the bridges.
On the 8th of December he retired across the
Delaware, removing all the boats for seventy miles to his
own side of the river. There was a panic in Philadelphia,
and Congress adjourned to Baltimore. Washington
felt himself unable, with his small force, to prevent
the passage of the British over the river.[1] Howe was
not the man, however, to pursue a winter campaign
with vigor. He returned to New York, leaving
Cornwallis, and afterwards Grant, in command in New
Jersey. Bancroft tells us that the state was given over to
plunder and outrage, and that all attempts to restrain
the Hessians were abandoned, under the apology that
the habit of plunder prevented desertions. “They
were led to believe,” quotes he, from the official report
of a British officer, “before they left Hesse-Cassel, that
they were to come to America to establish their private
fortunes, and hitherto they have certainly acted with
that principle.”[2] Washington, on the other hand,
writes, on the 5th of February, 1777: “One thing I
must remark in favor of the Hessians, and that is, that
our people who have been prisoners generally agree
that they received much kinder treatment from them
than from the British officers and soldiers.”[3]
It was the belief of Washington that active operations would speedily be resumed, and that the British
