during the charge, to the riflemen whom they found in
the outworks and the woods. The Americans, many
of whom must have seen this, were naturally uneasy
at the time of the surrender. The popular imagination
had made fiends of the Hessians. Captain von
Malsburg relates that when he came into the fortress
he found himself surrounded by officers with fear and
anxiety in their faces. They invited him into their
barracks, pressed punch, wine, and cold cakes upon him,
complimented him on his affability, which seemed to
astonish them, and told him they had not been led to
expect such from a Hessian officer. They begged for
his protection, and he, in return, lectured them on the
sin of rebellion against their good king.
The garrison marched out between the regiments Rall and Lossberg, laid down their arms, and gave up their banners, which were yellow, white, and light blue. Knyphausen is said to have looked on these “with disdain.” The attitude is characteristic of the Hessian feeling of the moment, and the American reader must find consolation in the fact that within six weeks the colors of the regiments Rall and Lossberg were in the hands of Washington's army.
The Hessians gained great credit by this action. Schmidt, Stirn, and Rall, and the troops under their command, were mentioned in general orders, and the captured fort was named Fort Knyphausen. No disgrace can attach to the Americans in the fort, who made a creditable resistance against great odds. The blame lies with those generals who insisted on holding the fort after the abandonment of the island by the main army under Washington, and after the obstruc-
