So too, at various other times, strong detachments from the main army sud-denly marched as low down as Morrisania or Kingsbridge, and having beaten up the enemy's quarters, soon after with-drew; while upon different occasions, the advanced guards of the upper party established for short periods, a chain of pickets, from the high grounds above Tarrytown, through Whiteplains and the Purchase, to Connecticut. But the per-manent lines of the American army of observation in West-chester County, were, almost always, drawn a short distance

2 THE MCDONALD PAPERS

above that stream, whose name now resounds throughout every household of our city, and must forever be entitled to a just renown. In the infancy of our country, the Croton served as a barrier against hostile progress, while at the pres-ent moment, it furnishes a necessary element, in its purest form, to the metropolis of the Western hemisphere. With respect to the Royalists, their ordinary alignment, during the season commonly devoted to military operations, extended from the Hudson, two or three miles above Kings- bridge, across the lower parts of Yonkers and Eastchester, to the Sound; protected on either flank by vessels of war, and out-guarded by a regular succession of pickets. From the middle of May until the approach of cold weather, these lines of occupation were composed chiefly of regular troops, both horse and foot, of whom one or two Hessian regiments, of yagers always formed a part. Twice, in 1777 and 1779 when the river fortresses were reduced, the British standard was displayed as far north as the Highland mountains above Peekskill, and for a short time, nearly the whole county of Westchester was held in subjection by the enemy. At sev-eral other times moreover, the main body of the king's forces crossed the Spyt den duivel Creek, and encamped on the high grounds that extend north of the villages of Yonkers and Eastchester, until the approach of winter, when the regular forces invariably withdrew, and took up their quarters, either upon Long Island, or within New York county, near Kings-bridge.