At one p.m. on Friday, November 15, a mounted British officer carrying a white flag trotted from King’s Bridge up the steep, dusty ramp to Fort Washington. Lieutenant Colonel James Patterson, Howe’s adjutant general, carried a simple ultimatum, which he handed to the American officer sent to intercept him: the rebel garrison was to surrender within two hours or every man would be put to the sword. Magaw, whose headquarters was in the Morris house, scribbled a defiant reply—“Actuated by the most glorious cause that mankind ever fought in, I am determined to defend the post to the very last
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