In other words, this is believed to have been one of the rare occasions upon which Washington swore. And certainly, if there was ever an excuse for profane invective, he could plead it at that time. Besides Magaw there w^ere Cadwalader, Rawlings, Baxter, and other officers of merit at the beleaguered fort, together with a force of about two thousand picked men, the flower of the army ; while opposed to them was an overwhelming force of British regulars and German hirelings, bred to the trade of war. Lossing has given an anecdote that does not seem

Forts Washington and Lee 189

to have any substantial basis of fact, but is offered here at its worth:

The chief crossed the river with Generals Putnam, Greene, and Mercer, and made his way stealthily to the house of Roger Morris, in which he had had his headquarters a few weeks before. From the Morris house, a mile south of Mount Washington, the chief made a hurried survey of the field of operations when a young, small, and very pretty vivandierc, the wife of a Pennsylvania soldier, who had followed the chief Hke a guardian angel, from the river, came up reverently and touched him on the arm and whispered in his ear. AVashington immediately ordered his companions into the saddle and they galloped back to their boats. Fifteen minutes later a British regiment which had been creeping stealthily like a serpent up the rocky acclivity, appeared at the mansion.

This story has a strongly apocrA^phal flavour. From Fort Lee the Chief saw the greater part of the attack upon Fort Washington and his spirits were alternately raised and depressed by the varying fortunes of the fray. The battle commenced about noon, with General Kn3^phausen's division attacking from the north, General Mathew advancing from the Harlem Ri\^er and Lord Percy trying to force the lines gallantly held by Colonel Cadwalader, two miles and a half south of the fort.