Washington broke off the exchange when he spotted some retreating units and hurried over to them. Lee appears to have remained in stunned silence for a few minutes. The passage of other troops shook him out of his lethargy, and he began to issue orders, only to be stopped by one of his aides, who reminded him that Washington was now on the field and issuing commands. Lee sought out Washington, who asked Lee if he was prepared to hold the ground to buy time for the main body to form behind them along Perrine Ridge. Lee later said he replied that ?I undoubtedly would, and that he should see that I myself should be one of the last to leave the field.? The pair parted, each to his own task.

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In between these exchanges, Washington met Lafayette, who had with him two detachments (Colonel William Stewart’s and Lt. Col. Nathaniel Ramsey’s). Aware that the rear of the strike force was being ?closely pressed by the enemy,? he asked the officers to delay the British advance, and they agreed to try. Just after Washington left, Wayne rode up, took charge, and directed the pair to an ambush position in a nearby wood. Lee meanwhile was organizing a defensive line along the northeast-southwest running hedgerow dividing the Rhea and Parsonage farms. Bolstered by two cannons hastily positioned on a nearby knoll, Lee was able to assemble pieces of two commands (Colonel Henry Beekman Livingston’s battalion and portions of Brig. Gen. James Mitchell Varnum’s brigade) to confront the British.

Some of the sharpest fighting of the day now ensued. Hoping to prevent any efforts by the enemy to establish a line of resistance, Clinton sent off a small force on a wide swing around to the northwest, while he pushed directly west with the bulk of his command. It was this heavy column that Wayne’s men ambushed around 12:45 p.m. Staggered by the first American volley, the nearest British troops (the Foot Guards under Colonel Henry Trelawney) pivoted to confront the threat and charged. The result was what Wayne later termed a ?Severe Conflict.? The Americans scattered; most escaped, but the 16th Light Dragoons jumped some in the open. Both of Lafayette’s brigadiers were down, Stewart wounded slightly, Ramsey more seriously hurt and also captured. Wayne’s action bought about a quarter-hour’s time.

The British formations continued westward and next encountered the line that Lee had pasted together behind the Parsonage farm hedgerow. The action opened with British cavalry charging along the road, personally led by General Clinton. The mounted force of the 16th Light Dragoons was met by steady American musketry. This fire, Clinton wrote, ?galled the cavalry so much as to oblige us to retreat with precipitation upon our infantry.? The British commander rushed over to the first columns he encountered, shouting: ?Charge, Grenadiers. Never heed forming!? For a few terrible minutes it was face-to-face combat as the two sides exchanged close volleys. It was, recalled one British veteran, ?the heaviest fire I have yet felt.? Once the British discovered that the American right flank was in the air, they collapsed Lee’s position. The Continental cannons (which arrived in time to fire only two or three rounds) rattled over the narrow bridge across Spottswood Middle Brook, followed in a more orderly fashion by the remaining infantry at about 1:15 p.m.

British efforts to follow the retreating Americans across the bridge were stopped by artillery fire from Washington’s main army, now spread along Perrine Ridge. In trying to force the passage, Lt. Col. Henry Monckton, commanding the 2nd Grenadiers, became the highest-ranking officer on the field to be killed in the battle. True to his word, Charles Lee was the last American officer to fall back across the span. Upon reporting to Washington, he was told to reorganize his temporary division, most of which was streaming toward Englishtown. Not long after Lee departed to accomplish this task, Washington decided to remove all his responsibilities and sent Baron von Steuben to replace him. Lee would not, however, be formally relieved from command until the decision had been made to hold a court-martial regarding his actions.

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