From Murray's Impartial Hist. of the Present War, i. p. 478.
The estimation in which Lee was held gave an undue importance to his capture. The British thought that in it they had deprived their opponents of nearly all the military science they possessed, and they styled him the American Palladium. With the Americans he had many friends, who were flattered that a soldier of European distinction should have espoused their cause, and, dazzled with his success at Charleston, they rated him higher than Washington, and, unintentionally perhaps, weakened the confidence that should have been reposed in the commander-in-chief by his subordinates.
Having failed to overtake Washington in New Jersey, Howe turned northward to Coryell's Ferry, fifteen miles above Trenton, in hopes of finding boats to enable him to cross the Delaware; but in this he was disappointed. He then took post at Pennington with a portion of his force, while with the remainder he returned to Trenton, repaired the bridges below the town which the Americans had destroyed, and extended his line as far as Burlington.
So great was the terror spread through New Jersey as the British advanced, that many of her citizens took advantage of the amnesty which was offered by the Howes to all who would put themselves under their protection within sixty days from the 30th of November. Chief among these was Samuel Tucker, president of the Committee of Safety, who had held many positions of honor and trust. Nor was this defection confined to the east side of the Delaware. It was now that Joseph Galloway, and citizens of Philadelphia, like the Allens, who had supported the cause of the colonies until independence became the avowed object of the war, sought safety within the British lines. But the influence which their conduct might have exercised upon the people was neutralized by what was soon endured at the hands of the British and Hessian troops. Never before had any of the colonies been exposed to the unbridled impulses of a mercenary and licentious soldiery. Houses were plundered and their contents destroyed in mere wantonness, women were forced to submit to indignities, and all the horrors which usually attended the invasion of a European country by a foreign army in the eighteenth century were transferred to the soil of New Jersey.[887]
In Philadelphia the excitement was intense. On the 28th of November a meeting was held in the State House yard to consider the condition of affairs. It was addressed by Mifflin, who had been sent to the city to warn Congress of the danger which threatened the army. He spoke with animation, and endeavored to rouse the people to action. His efforts met with some success, and in a few days the troops that reinforced Washington prior to his retreat into Pennsylvania were in motion. On the 30th the Council of Safety advised the citizens to prepare, upon short notice, to remove their wives and children to places of safety. On December 2d, when it was known in the city that Howe's army was at Brunswick, crowds gathered at the Coffee House to learn the news. The stores and schools were closed, and all business was suspended. No one was allowed to cross the Delaware without a pass, while recruiting parties with drums beating paraded in the streets. The roads leading from the city were crowded with vehicles of every description, bearing the families of citizens and their effects to places of refuge.
AN APPEAL.
Reduced from an original in the library of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
When these means of transportation failed, the water craft on the Delaware was pressed into service. Women with children in their arms were crowded in smoky cabins so low that they could not sit upright, while the younger girls were quartered on the decks, from whence they were driven by the snow and rain. But sadder sights presented themselves in the streets of the city. The sick of the army arrived daily. Many of the men had gone to the field clad only for a summer campaign. They had succumbed to exposure, and had reached Philadelphia in an almost naked condition. Measures were at once set on foot for their relief. Vacant houses were taken for their accommodation. The most seriously afflicted were sent to the hospitals, while committees of citizens went from door to door begging clothing for their use.