 Fifty light infantry men were in pursuit of Mercer 's men when a fresh brigade of 1 @,@ 100 militiamen under the command of Cadwalader appeared . Mawhood gathered his men who were all over the battlefield and put them into battle line formation . Meanwhile , Sullivan was at a standoff with the detachment of the 55th Regiment that had come to assist the 40th Regiment , neither daring to move towards the main battle for risk of exposing its flank . Cadwalader attempted to move his men into a battle line but they had no combat experience and did not know even the most basic military maneuvers . When his men reached the top of the hill and saw Mercer 's men fleeing from the British , most of the militia turned around and ran back down the hill . 
