Count Donop vrith. the other column, in attempting the south side of the redoubt, had passed the abatis ; some of his men had traversed the fosse; others had clambered over the pickets, when a similar tempest of artillery and musketry burst upon them. Some wore killed on the spot, many were wounded, and the rest were driven out. Donop himself was wounded, and remained on the spot ; Lieutenant- Colonel Mingerode, the second in command, was also dangerously wounded. Sevei"al other of the best officers were slain or disabled. Lieutenant-Colonel Linsing, the oldest remaining officer, endeavored to draw off the troops in good order, but in vain; they retreated in confusion, hotly pursued, and were again cut up in their retreat by the flanking fire from the galleys and floating batteries.

The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded, in this brief but severe action, was about four hundred men. That of the Americans, eight killed and twenty-nine wounded.

Washington Irving thus describes the attack made by the enemy on Fort Mifflin and Mercer on the 2 2d of October, 1777 : --

"On the forts and obstructions in the river, Washington m:iiniy counted to complete tlie harassment of Philadelphia. The defences had been materially impaired. The works at Billingsport had been attacked and destroyed, and sonicof the enemy's ships had f(jrced their way througli the c7iecriux-(h-frh/', placed tliere. The American frigate Delaware, stationed in the river between the upper forts and Philadelphia, had run aground before a British battery and been captured.