were thrown out towards Springfield. The chasseurs
were but three hundred strong at this time, a part of
the corps being at Charleston, and another part being
turned into cavalry, or, more properly, mounted
chasseurs. On these three hundred fell the brunt of the
fighting on that day. The Americans showed great
pertinacity, and charged repeatedly with the bayonet.
About one o'clock the chasseurs received reinforcements,
and the enemy were driven back to Springfield.
A cannonade was now begun, but at about four in the
afternoon the chasseurs were ordered back to their first
position, and the army encamped. The pickets were
posted in some houses in front of the line, but were
presently attacked. The chasseurs charged and drove
the Americans back a long distance, and the houses
were burned. Three cannon were brought up, but
the enemy did not renew the attack. The chasseurs
lost fifty-five men killed and wounded during the day.
At dusk news was brought by deserters that Washington
with his main army was expected at Springfield
during the night. Thereupon Knyphausen started at
eleven in the evening and returned to Elizabethtown
Point. On the following day Lord Stirling, with the
American advanced guard, attacked an English
regiment, but this was supported by two regiments of
Germans, and the Americans were driven back to
Elizabethtown. During the days that followed there
was continual skirmishing. On the 13th, the mounted
chasseurs made an attempt to surprise and capture
an American cavalry picket, but their purpose was
betrayed and the picket escaped. “It is almost impossible
to surprise the enemy on any occasion,” says the
Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/282
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258
THE HESSIANS.