Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/127

 Rh under Colonel Butler. The attack was to be made in three divisions. The first, under General Matthews, was to make a feint on the front of the American works. The second, under Cornwallis, was to pass to the left, by Somerset, round Butler's position, and take it in the rear. The third, marching to the right by Greenbrook, was to cut off the retreat of the enemy to Morristown. Ewald commanded the advanced guard of the First Division. The road from Raritan Landing to Boundbrook, leading up the left side of the Raritan River, and about two and a half miles in length, ended in a causeway over a morass. Through the morass ran a brook, over which was a stone bridge. The Americans had built a redoubt to command the bridge and the causeway.

The division started about two in the morning. Half-way to Boundbrook, Ewald, well ahead as usual, thought he saw something stirring. In the hope of surprising a hostile patrol, he sent back a messenger to order the rest of his men to come up quietly. He was discovered, however, and challenged. Calling in a low voice to his soldiers, he advanced close to the enemy, who turned out to be about thirty strong. They fired a volley and made off, and Ewald after them. Contrary to orders, the chasseurs also fired a few shots. It would have been better, says Ewald, to follow them slowly, as they might have taken the chasseurs for an ordinary patrol, such as was to be met with on that road almost every night. Ewald hoped, however, to make his way over the causeway and into the redoubt with the Americans, but the distance was too great and day was breaking. He had followed his nose, he says,