The estimation in which Lee was held gave an undue importance to his capture. The British thought that in it they had deprived their opponents of nearly all the military science they possessed, and they styled him the American Palladium. With the Americans he had many friends, who were flattered that a soldier of European distinction should have espoused their cause, and, dazzled with his success at Charleston, they rated him higher than Washington, and, unintentionally perhaps, weakened the confidence that should have been reposed in the commander-in-chief by his subordinates. Having failed to overtake Washington in New Jersey, Howe turned northward to Coryell's Ferry, fifteen miles above Trenton, in hopes of finding boats to enable him to cross the Delaware; but in this he was disappointed. He then took post at Pennington with a portion of his force, while with the remainder he returned to Trenton, repaired the bridges below the town which the Americans had destroyed, and extended his line as far as Burlington. So great was the terror spread through New Jersey as the British advanced, that many of her citizens took advantage of the amnesty which was offered by the Howes to all who would put themselves under their protection within sixty days from the 30th of November. Chief among these was Samuel Tucker, president of the Committee of Safety, who had held many positions of honor and trust. Nor was this defection confined to the east side of the Delaware. It was now that Joseph Galloway, and citizens of Philadelphia, like the Allens, who had supported the cause of the colonies until independence became the avowed object of the war, sought safety within the British lines. But the influence which their conduct might have exercised upon the people was neutralized by what was soon endured at the hands of the British and Hessian troops. Never before had any of the colonies been exposed to the unbridled impulses of a mercenary and licentious soldiery. Houses were plundered and their contents destroyed in mere wantonness, women were forced to submit to indignities, and all the horrors which usually attended the invasion of a European country by a foreign army in the eighteenth century were transferred to the soil of New Jersey.[887] [Illustration]