The following order was at the same time communicated to the men: “If any soldier presume to take his musket from his shoulder; attempt to fire; or begin the battle till ordered by his proper officer, he shall be instantly put to death by the officer next him.” (This implied, of course, death by the sword.) The advance was to be “with fixed bayonets, and unloaded muskets.” Each officer and soldier had been ordered to place a white paper or cloth upon his cap, to distinguish him from an enemy; and the watchword, to be shouted aloud whenever one detachment reached its point of attack, as an encouragement to the others and a terror to the garrison, was, “_The fort is ours!_” Pioneer parties, carefully selected, wrenched away the abatis. The detachments moved instantly, as if impelled by some invisible, resistless force. The two assaulting columns met in the centre of the works almost at the same moment. Wayne fell, seriously but not mortally wounded, while passing the abatis. The entire American loss was fifteen killed, and eighty-three wounded. The British loss was one officer and nineteen men killed; six officers and sixty-eight men wounded; twenty-five officers and four hundred and forty-seven men taken prisoners; two officers and fifty-six men missing. The night was dark, and the difficulties of crossing the morass below the fort, at nearly full tide, and clambering up rugged cliffs thick with briars and underbrush, cannot be described. A modern visitor will find it difficult enough to make the same trip, by daylight. The stores, valued at $158,640, were divided by Washington’s order among the troops, in proportion to the pay of officers and men. The courteous treatment extended by him to the prisoners received very gracious recognition from the British authorities. The faithfulness, skill, and daring, and the good judgment with which Wayne comprehended and carried out, in almost literal detail, the plans of Washington, were greatly to his honor, and evoked most appreciative commendation from his superior officer. General Clinton promptly organized a force, and proceeded up the river to recapture the post; but Washington, having dismantled it, decided that its further retention was not of sufficient value to spare a garrison for its permanent defence, and left it for occupation by the British at their leisure. Another excursion from New York by Tarleton, into Westchester County, about the middle of August, was reciprocated under Washington’s orders, with decided _éclat_ and success. On the nineteenth of August, Col. Henry Lee crossed the Hackensack; moved down the Hudson River, and at half-past two o’clock in the morning, at low tide, captured Paulus Hook, where Jersey City now stands, nearly opposite Clinton’s New York headquarters. Not a shot was fired by the storming party. Only the bayonet was used. The Americans lost twenty, and the British lost fifteen, besides one hundred and fifty taken prisoners.