Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/300

 274 Cornwallis on the march, but at a respectful distance. The army under Lafayette at the time numbered forty-five hundred men, of whom only one thousand five hundred and fifty were regulars.

But two engagements occurred during this return march. The first of them was on the 26th of June. A party under Simcoe and Ewald, forming the rear guard of the British army, was attacked, and in a measure surprised by a detachment of Wayne's division. The British and Hessians were resting at noon not far from Williamsburg, when the Americans made a spirited attack upon them. The cavalry were soon mounted, however, and the chasseurs under arms, and the Americans were beaten off, with a loss on either side of thirty or forty men.

At Williamsburg Lord Cornwallis received orders to send back three thousand men to New York, which Clinton supposed to be threatened by the combined forces of France and the United States. For the purpose of carrying out this order, Cornwallis proceeded on his march to Portsmouth. On the 4th of July he left his camp at Williamsburg and marched to Jamestown, with the intention of crossing the James River. The rangers under Simcoe and the chasseurs under Ewald crossed the same night. A part of the baggage was taken over the next day. On the 6th of July Cornwallis, with the army, remained at Jamestown,