Not a sound disturbed the slumbers of the
British. An army in retreat does not easily defend itself. Boats
from the British fleet might have brought panic to the Americans
in the darkness and the British army should at least have known
that they were gone. By seven in the morning the ten thousand
American soldiers were for the time safe in New York, and we may
suppose that the two Howes were asking eager questions and
wondering how it had all happened.
Washington had shown that he knew when and how to retire. Long
Island was his first battle and he had lost. Now retreat was his
first great tactical achievement. He could not stay in New York
and so sent at once the chief part of the army, withdrawn from
Brooklyn, to the line of the Harlem River at the north end of the
island. He realized that his shore batteries could not keep the
British fleet from sailing up both the East and the Hudson Rivers
and from landing a force on Manhattan Island almost where it
liked. Then the city of New York would be surrounded by a hostile
fleet and a hostile army. The Howes could have performed this
maneuver as soon as they had a favorable wind. There was, we
know, great confusion in New York, and Washington tells us how
his heart was torn by the distress of the inhabitants.
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