Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/94

 80 against four different points, but that which bore the brunt of the fighting, and to which the glory of the day belonged, was composed of Hessians under Knyphausen. This force crossed over to New York island by Kings Bridge at half-past five in the morning, and was divided into two columns, the right-hand one under Colonel Rall, the left under Major-general Schmidt. In this column Wiederhold was with the advanced guard. For a long time the Germans had to stand quiet, while the English columns got into position and began the attack. Meanwhile Cornwallis had taken the American battery on Laurel Hill. Earl Percy, with two English and one Hessian brigade, had threatened the American works on the south, and Colonel Sterling, with the Highlanders, had crossed Harlem River behind the force opposed to Percy, and threatened to cut off its retreat. In doing this the Highlanders had to charge up a steep bank, and lost about ninety men. Colonel Cadwalader, who commanded the Americans in this neighborhood, had been obliged to retreat, and his men, instead of rallying outside of Fort Washington itself, had rushed into the narrow enclosure, impeding the defensive operations of its proper garrison.

It was between ten and eleven o'clock. The moment for the Hessians to attack had come at last. They waded through a marsh, and climbed the precipitous, rocky hill on which the fort was built. In vain did the riflemen shoot them down. In vain did the artillery rain grape and ball among them. Knyphausen, himself, was continually in the thickest of the fight, “so that it is wonderful,” writes Wiederhold,