The Americans first were driven off Long Island and then northward across Manhattan. Washington committed a series of blunders and was lucky to escape the two battles with as many men as he did. He wrote of the fight in Manhattan that he was stunned to see his men “running away in the most disgraceful and shamefull manner, nor could my utmost efforts rally them or prevent their flight.”24 This is a general at odds with his troops, blaming them too much in order to avoid the hard fact that he had not led them well.
