Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/107

 Rh under an ensign, was sent one or two miles in pursuit of the retreating Americans, but failed to come up with them. The picket at the junction of the upper river road and the Pennington road was then strengthened by about ten men, under Lieutenant Wiederhold, making it up to a total strength of twenty-five men. Rall made up his mind that all danger was over. He had lately been warned that an attack was imminent, and he took it for granted that the skirmish in which the pickets had been engaged was the attack of which he had been warned. Leslie, who commanded at Princeton, had sent word that Washington was preparing to cross the Delaware, but Rall gave no serious heed. He only ordered his own regiment, which was “of the day,” to stay in its quarters. There was, indeed, ground for his feeling of security. It was known to him that no large force of Americans was left in his part of New Jersey. Washington's army lay beyond the Delaware, a ragged, half-armed mob of poor devils, who had lately been driven from state to state and from river to river. Great cakes of ice floated to and fro in the Delaware, drifting with the tide, and making all crossing dangerous. The night was boisterous, even for December, and before morning sleet and snow were driving through the streets. But within all was bright and cheerful. It was Christmas evening. The Germans, comfortably housed in Trenton, could laugh at the storm, and sleep securely.