six ships, two of them with forty guns each, the others with sixty-four
each, all within less than nine hundred yards of the fort."

"More than three hundred guns all firing on that one little fort!"
exclaimed Rosie. "It is really wonderful how our poor men could stand
it."

"Yes, for six consecutive days a perfect storm of bombs and round shot
poured upon them," said the captain, "and it must have required no small
amount of courage to stand such a tempest."

"I hope they fired back and killed some of those wicked fellows!"
exclaimed Walter, his eyes flashing.

"You may be sure they did their best to defend themselves and their
fort," replied the captain. "And the British loss was great, though the
exact number has never been known.

"Nearly two hundred and fifty of our men were killed or wounded.
Lieutenant Treat, commanding the artillery, was killed on the first day
by the bursting of a bomb. The next day quite a number of the garrison
were killed or wounded, and Colonel Smith himself had a narrow escape.

"A ball passed through a chimney in the barracks,--whither he had gone
intending to write a letter,--scattered the bricks, and one of them
striking him on the head knocked him senseless.

"He was carried across the river to Red Bank, and Major Thayer of the
Rhode Island line took command in his place.