Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/230

 208 at Redbank was three hundred and seventy-one, including twenty-two officers. The Americans had thirty-seven killed and wounded.

This brilliant defence did not permanently secure the control of the river to the victors. On the 9th of November the British batteries opened fire on Fort Mifflin. For six days and nights the bombardment continued. More than twelve thousand shots are said to have been fired. On the 15th the English fleet also came to take part in the action. A ship of war, mounting sixteen twenty-four-pounders, and a large Indiaman, with three guns of the same calibre, were brought so near the fort that hand-grenades could be thrown from their rigging into the works. Five large ships were within range on the other side. The land batteries mounted thirty guns. The block-houses of the fort, which had done good service, were knocked to pieces. Many of the cannon were silenced. On the night of the 15th the garrison retreated to Fort Mercer. Cornwallis was sent to invest this place, and Washington was unable to reinforce it. The fort was abandoned, the barracks burned, and the magazines blown up on the night of the 20th of November, 1777. The American ships in the river were also burned. Cornwallis completed the destruction of the fort, whose ramparts were razed.