of getting ready to attack, he stretched his force around the Heights,
from the East River on the north to the East River again, on the
south, in a semicircle, and it was plain that his intention was to
establish a siege.

General Washington realized at once that it would not do to stay on
Brooklyn Heights, under such circumstances, for if the British fleet
were to come up the East River and cut off the patriot army's retreat
in that direction, the only result possible would be the surrender of
the Continental army on the Heights. As he had no intention of
surrendering, he decided to evacuate the position, and that night all
the boats that could be gathered together were secured and the patriot
army was removed across the river to New York. Also all the arms,
ammunitions, provisions of every kind, and the heavy artillery, were
ferried over. Nothing was left, and when next morning the British
looked up at the works on the Heights, they were amazed to see no
signs of life there-for so silently and cautiously had the patriots
worked during the night that the British had not gotten an inkling of
the movement. The redcoats pushed up the hill, and climbed over the
works, only to stare around in dismay. Nothing was left of the big
army that had been there only the evening before.

This achievement of General Washington, this wonderful feat of
withdrawing an entire army of ten thousand men, with all the arms,
including heavy artillery, and the ammunitions and provisions from
right under the very nose of the enemy, and without the enemy even
suspecting what was going on, will always be considered one of the
greatest triumphs of generalship the world has ever known. This feat,
when it became known in England, caused some of the greatest soldiers,
and generals, and over in Europe as well, to shake their heads and