 Howe sent another force in March under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood to forage and also to try to force Wayne into battle.On March 17, Mawhood led a mixed force of 1,200 men, consisting of British regulars and Loyalist companies of New Jersey Volunteers and John Graves Simcoe's Queen's Rangers, across the Delaware River into Salem County, New Jersey.General Wayne, alert to British movements, had largely completed his work and was in Burlington, preparing to return to Valley Forge.