[originaltext] Battle after battle, the Americans suffered heavy loss. Gene

Battle after battle, the Americans suffered heavy  loss. General  Washington led his forces  across  the Hudson River.’ The British close behind, driving Washington further south to the Delaware River. Washington succeeded in getting all his men safely across just before the British troops reached the river.
    The British had at least 35,000 troops in their camps, while Washington had only 3,000 fighting men left by this time. Men were leaving the American Army daily. Quite a few of them had left to take care of their farms and families. Others had gone away because they were old and hungry. Nobody could hold these men back. Things began to look black indeed for the revolutionaries. It was at this moment that Tom Paine, then an ordinary soldier in the American camp ,wrote the words, "There are times that try men’s souls."