an onset. Those of the troops belonging to our brigade
were put into the churchyard, which was enclosed by a wall of stone and lime about breast high, a good defence
against musketry but poor against artillery. I began to
think I should soon have some better sport than killing
bats. But our commander found that the enemy was too
strong to be engaged in the position we then occupied,
he therefore wisely ordered a retreat from this place to the Schuylkill, where we might choose any position that we pleased, having ragged woody hills in our rear and the
river in front. It was about three miles to the river; the weather was exceeding warm, and I was in the rear
platoon of the detachment except two platoons of Gen.
Washington's guards. The quick motion in front kept the rear on a constant trot. Two pieces of artillery were in front and two in the rear. The enemy had nearly surrounded us by the time our retreat commenced, but the road we were in was very favourable for us, it being for the most part, and especially the first part of it through small woods and copses. When I was about half way to the river, I saw the right wing of the enemy through a lawn about half a mile distant, but they were too late; besides, they made a blunder here,—they saw our rear guard with the two fieldpieces in its front, and thinking it the front of the detachment, they closed in to secure their prey; but when they had sprung their net they found that they had not a single bird under it.
We crossed the Schuylkill in good order, very near the spot where I had crossed it four times in the month of October the preceding autumn. As fast as the troops crossed they formed and prepared for action, and waited for them to attack us; but we saw no more of them that time, for before we had reached the river the alarm guns were fired in our camp and the whole army was immediately in motion. The British, fearing that they should be outnumbered in their turn, directly set their faces for Philadelphia and set off in as much or more haste than we had left Barren hill. They had, during the night, left the city with such silence and secrecy, and by taking what was called the New-York road, that they escaped detection by all our parties, and the first knowledge they obtained of the enemy's movements was, that he was upon their backs, between them and us on the hill.
