11 J.ifi.' of Gc-jr-^c Vv'a..lun,.''on oy M. L W,.'L>mg, formerly Kector of JH Vernon I'ari^ti. riiila. ISUU.

690 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER.

quelling the brave struggles of a people for their liberty, and contrasting it with that in which the chivalrous youth by his bedside was engaged-- " I die," added he bitterly, '" the victim of my ambition, and of the avarice of my sovereign."* He was but thirty-seven years of age at the time of his death.

According to the plan of the enemy, Fort Mifflin, opposite to Fort Mercer, was to have been attacked at the same time by water. The force employed was the Augusta of sixty-four guns, the Roebuck of forty four, two frigates, the Merlin sloop of eighteen guns, and a galley. They forced their way through the lower line of chevaux-de-frise; but the Augusta and Merlin ran aground below the second line, and every effort to get them off proved fruitless. To divert attention from their situation, the other vessels drew as near to Fort Mifflin as they could, and opened a cannonade; but the obstructions in the river had so altered the channel that they could not get mthinver}- effective distance They kept up a fire upon the fort throughout the evening, and recommenced it early in the morning, as did likewise the British batteries on the Pennsylvania shore; hoping that under cover of it, the ships might be got off. A strong adverse ^\•ind, however, kept the tide from rising sufficiently to float them.