 Washington , with his hat in his hand , rode forward and waved the Americans forward , while he rode ahead on his horse . At this point , Mawhood had moved his troops slightly to the left to get out of the range of the American artillery fire . Washington gave orders not to fire until he gave them the signal , and when they were thirty yards away , he turned around on his horse , facing his men and said " Halt ! " and then " Fire ! " . At this moment , the British also fired , obscuring the field in a cloud of smoke . One of Washington 's officers , John Fitzgerald , pulled his hat over his eyes to avoid seeing Washington killed , but when the smoke cleared , Washington appeared , unharmed , waving his men forward . 
