"
* * *
Up and down the valley of the Hudson the contending
armies surged like the ebbing and flowing of the tides.
_William Wait._
* * *
Washington's message arrived too late. "The fort was so crowded by
the garrison and the troops which had retreated into it, that it was
difficult to move about. The enemy, too, were in possession of the
little redoubts around, and could have poured in showers of shells and
ricochet balls that would have made dreadful slaughter." It was no
longer possible for Magaw to get his troops to man the lines; he was
compelled, therefore, to yield himself and his garrison prisoners of
war. The only terms granted them were, that the men should retain
their baggage and the officers their swords.
=Fort Lee=, directly across the river, had a commanding position, but
was entirely useless to the Revolutionary army after the fall of Fort
Washington. It was therefore immediately abandoned to the British, as
was also Fort Constitution, another redoubt near at hand.
It will be remembered that the American army after long continued
disaster in and about New York, retreated southward from Fort Lee and
Hackensack to the Delaware, where Washington with a strategic stroke
brought dismay on his enemies and restored confidence to his friends
and the Patriots' Cause.
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