The following obituary notice occurs in the Westchester Herald for that year." In the Van Tassel papers in the Hufeland Westchesteriana is a note that the Andrew Corsa obituary was published in the Westchester Herald on January 11, 1853. 2 The Corsa genealogy had been exhaustively traced by Stanley J. Corsa of Brooklyn, N.Y. It is published in Vol. V. of French's History of West-chester County, Lewis Historical Publishing Col., Inc., New York and Chicago, 1927. 3 Among the MSS. in the Secry's Dept. are the original Muster Rolls of the companies which served in the campaign of 1755 against the French; among others is Capt. Isaac Corsa's Comp., Westchester 95 rank.--Doc. Hist. of N.Y. vol. ii, 696.

74 THE McDONALD PAPERS

similarly situated, espoused the royal side throughout the great controversy. But parental authority was not sufficient to keep the young Andrew long within the limits of the ancient allegiance; and about the middle of the war, his strong inclinations in favor of American independence over-came every other consideration, and he commenced an independent career by rendering important services to the Guides and scouting parties that approached the British lines, whether for attack or observation. Minutely ac-quainted with all the passes about Kingsbridge, Fordham and Morrisania--and withal of a disposition sprightly, intelligent and communicative--his services were anxiously sought for; when in the summer of 1781, after the allied forces had been encamped upon the heights of Greenburgh about two weeks, Washington and Rochambeau made ready for a formidable movement with a select portion of their army, towards the lines of the enemy. Preparatory to this operation, Count Mathieu Dumas, the two brothers Berthier, and several other young officers belonging to the French staff, who had, for some days, been zealously engaged in exploring the ground and roads and in sketching maps of the country between the allied camp and Kings Bridge, were ordered by the French commander to set out before daylight, and to push their examinations till they came within sight of the enemy's most advanced redoubts, at the northern extremity of New York island.