"For the satisfaction of General Heath, and at his request, I do certify that I am commanding officer, at this present writing, in this post, and that I have, in that capacity, ordered Prescott's and Wyllis' regiments to march."
The next morning General Lee rode up to Heath's door, and said:
"Upon further consideration I have concluded not to take the two regiments with me. You may order them to return to their former post."
Evidently the ambitious and conceited general had come to the conclusion that "discretion is the better part of valor."
General Lee did not cross the Hudson until the 4th of December, moving snail-like, although he knew that Washington's army was in imminent peril.
"Do come on," Washington's last plea was; "your arrival may be fortunate, and, if it can be effected without delay, it may be the means of preserving a city whose loss must prove of the most fatal consequence to the cause of America."
The "city" referred to was Philadelphia. Washington had written to him that the enemy was designing to capture Philadelphia, a calamity that must be prevented if possible.
At this time Washington had removed the baggage and stores of his army across the Delaware. Being reinforced, however, by fifteen hundred Pennsylvania militia, he resolved to march back to Princeton and await developments. On his way he met General Stirling, who had evacuated Princeton, as Cornwallis was marching upon it with a large force. Returning to Trenton, he hastily collected all the boats possible, and conveyed his whole force over the Delaware, including General Stirling's command from Princeton. The rear-guard had scarcely crossed the river when Cornwallis appeared in the distance with his "bannered hosts." As Washington had taken possession of all the boats and transports, the enemy could not cross.
The tact and skill of Washington as a general were as conspicuous in his retreat through the Jerseys as they were on any battlefield. Thomas Paine accompanied the army, and he wrote: