They crossed the Schuylkill with their artillery, took possession of the high grounds on the west side of the river, and formed in the order of battle. General Grant had marched to the church on Barren Hill, where he joined the division under Clinton, and discovered, with mortified pride, that he had been outmaneuvered by the "stripling Frenchman." It was too late to overtake the retreating patriots; the British pursued them as far as the ford, but, finding it impossible to cross over, they wheeled, and returned, disappointed and chagrined, to Philadelphia. In a skirmish with the enemy's advanced parties at the ford, while the artillery was crossing, the Americans lost nine men killed and taken. The British lost two light horsemen killed, and several wounded. La Fayette and his troops marched back to the camp at Valley Forge, where they were greeted with the most enthusiastic congratulations. It was almost sunset when we left the old church-yard on Barren Hill and departed for Conshohocken * (Matson's Ford), on the Schuylkill, where we intended to pass the night. [Illustration: 7339] [Illustration: 8339] Although four miles distant, we could see the smoke of its furnaces ascending above the intervening hill-tops, and marring the placid beauty of the western sky, where a thin purple haze fringed the horizon, and half hid the crescent moon and its more sprightly neighbor on the occasion, the belted * Conshohocken is a thriving manufacturing village on the east bank of the Schuylkill, in Montgomery county, about twelve miles from Philadelphia. It has recently grown up in connection with the waterpower of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. There is also a great deal of lime burned there for the Philadelphia market. * The Baron De Woedtke had been for many years an officer in the army of the King of Prussia, and risen to the rank of major. He brought strong letters of recommendation from Dr. Franklin, and on the 16th of March, 1776, he was appointed by Congress a brigadier general, and ordered to Canada. He died at Lake George at the close of July, 1776, and was buried with the honors due to his rank. [[[Iron Ore near the Schuylkill.--Conshohocken and its Industry.--Norristown.--Swedes' Ford.]]]