Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/103

 would march on Philadelphia as soon as the Delaware should be frozen over. A letter intercepted a day or two before Christmas confirmed this opinion. It became of the utmost importance to strike a blow before the enemy should be ready to move, and before the last day of December, when the term of service of many of his men would expire.

The disposition of troops made by General Grant, the British commander in New Jersey, was as follows: Princeton and New Brunswick were held by English detachments. Von Donop, commanding the Hessian grenadiers and the Forty-second Highlanders, was at Bordentown. Rall, with the brigade which had been for some time under his orders, fifty Hessian chasseurs, twenty English light dragoons, and six field-pieces, was quartered at Trenton. Rall's brigade was composed of three regiments of Hessians, which bore the names of Rall, von Knyphausen, and von Lossberg. It did not differ materially in quality from other Hessian brigades. The regiment von Lossberg had especially distinguished itself at Chatterton Hill. Regiment Rall was made up of bad material, being one of those raised in a hurry to fill the tale of soldiers furnished by the Landgrave,