Washington had hoped to make a stand at New Brunswick, but was disappointed. The service of the Jersey and Maryland brigades expired on the day he left that place, and neither of them would remain longer with the army. General Lee had been left at White Plains in command of a detachment of the army, consisting of nearly three thousand men. Washington wrote to him from Hackensack, requesting him to lead his division into New Jersey immediately to re-enforce his melting army. Lee did not heed the request, and the commander-in-chief finally sent him a positive order to that effect. This order was repeated, and yet he delayed; and so tardy was his march in the rear of the royal army, that it was three weeks before he reached Morristown. It is evident from Lee's conduct, and the tenor of his letters at that time, that it was not so much a spirit of determined disobedience which governed his actions, as a strong desire to act independent of the commander-in-chief, and perform some signal service which would redound to his personal glory. * He was as ambitious as he was impetuous and brave. He had endeavored, but in vain, to induce General Heath, who was left in command at Peekskill, to let him have a detachment of one or two thousand men, with which to operate. Heath refused to vary from his instructions, and it was well he did. Washington continued to urge Lee to form a junction with him; yet, as late as the 11th of December, two days after the passage of the Delaware, a letter written by Lee to Washington, at Morristown, hinted at various contemplated movements, not one of which referred to a junction of forces. This was the last letter Washington received from Lee during his march. Two days afterward, while pursuing his slow and reluctant progress toward the Delaware, Lee was taken prisoner. His troops lay at a place called Vealtown, while he lodged at Basking Ridge, nearly three miles distant, at the inn of a Mrs. White, now a private dwelling, situated upon rising ground at the southeast entrance of the village. Colonel Harcourt, at the head of a scouting party of British cavalry, apprised of the position of General Lee,2 made a furious charge upon his quarters on