Ere  the  alarm  ceased  beating,  the  men  had  seized  their  muskets.  Word  had
been  passed  from  the  remote  pickets  on  the  coast,  that  the  enemy  were  ap-
proaching. Lord  Stilling  was  instantly  directed  by  General  Putnam  to  march
with  the  two  nearest  regiments  to  their  rencounter.  These  proved  to  be  the
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  troops,  under  Colonels  Haslet  and  Smallwood  ;
with  whom,  proceeding  over  the  uneven  ground  in  the  direction  of  the  attack,  he
found  himself  on  the  road  to  the  Narrows,  toward  daybreak,  and  soon  met  Colo-
nel Altee  with  his  Delaware  regiment,  retiring  before  the  British,  with  the
pickets  to  whose  aid  they  had  advanced.  Stationing  this  officer  on  the  left  of
the  road  by  which  the  enemy  were  approaching,  Lord  Stirling  formed  his  two
regiments  along  an  advantageous  ridge,  ascending  from  the  road  to  a  piece  of
wood  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  The  British  were  received  with  two  or  three  warm
rounds  by  the  Delawares,  who,  as  their  ground  became  untenable,  withdrew  to
a  wood  on  Lord  Stirling's  left,  where  they  formed.
