Should Cornwallis continue his march to Philadelphia, Washington would immediately advance upon Brunswick, and seize all his magazines. The British commander was therefore compelled to abandon that project and retreat, with the utmost precipitation, to save his stores. The battle at Princeton was fiercely contested. Washington plunged into the thickest of all its perils. But the victory, on the part of the Americans, was decisive. The foe was routed and scattered in precipitate flight. One of the British officers who fell on this occasion was Captain Leven, son of the wealthy and illustrious Earl of Leven. He seems to have been a gallant and amiable young man. His death was sincerely deplored by his comrades. It is often said that bayonets must not think; that it is their sole function to obey. But those who guide bayonets are culpable, in the highest degree, if they direct the terrible energies of those bayonets against the right and for the wrong. History must record that the prospective Earl of Leven fell, ignobly fighting to rivet the chains of an intolerable despotism upon his fellow-men. It is well that the woes of cruel war penetrate the castle as well as the cottage. It is said that when Cornwallis awoke in the morning, and heard the heavy booming of cannon far away in his rear, he was lost in astonishment, being utterly unable to account for it. And when he learned that, during the night, his victims had escaped, and that Washington was cutting down his guard, and seizing his magazines, he could not refrain from expressing his admiration of the heroism of his foe. Greatly humiliated, he marched at the double quick, to save, if possible, the large supplies at Brunswick, compelled to admit that he had been completely foiled and outgeneraled. Washington, thus gloriously a victor, thought it not prudent to advance upon Brunswick, as a strong guard was left there, and it was certain that Cornwallis would come rushing down upon him at the double quick. He therefore continued his march, which may be truly called a victorious retreat, to the mountainous region of Morristown. Here he established his winter quarters, in strong positions which the British did not venture to assail. Washington, while on the march, wrote to General Putnam: “The enemy appear to be panic-struck. I am in hopes of driving them out of the Jerseys. Keep a strict watch upon the enemy. A number of horsemen, in the dress of the country, must be kept constantly going backward and forward for this purpose.”