THAT was a shameful battle, brightened only by the skillful retreats to and across the River.
There were some good stands but by and large we were whipped.
Yup, the Marylanders (a mere 250 of them!) put up a very brave fight buying Washington time to retreat to Brooklyn Heights where they later escaped across the East River into Manhattan. Leading them across the river was the same guy who led the Delaware Crossing.
“brightened only by the skillful retreats to and across the River.”
I seem to recall that a rare, dense fog prevented the British ships from seeing the escaping boats.