The summit of Gallows Hill embraces a fine view of the river, the scenery of the race and surrounding country. The remains of Fort Look Out are situated on the adjoining hill. During the revolutionary contest, the village of Peekskill appears to have suffered severely from the enemy's incursions. "Before the British army took the field, for the third campaign of 1777, (says Mr. Smith) two enterprizes for the destruction of American stores were undertaken. Col. Bird landed with about 500 men at Peekskill, March 23, fifty miles from New York. The few Americans who were stationed as a guard at this place, on the approach of the British, fired the principal store-houses and retired. The loss

a Westchester and Putnam Republican, May 14, 1833,

Vol. 1. 10

74 HISTORY OF THE

of the provisions was considerable.''^ '' September, 1777, the enemy came out on both sides of the Hudson simultaneously in considerable force, consisting of from two to three thousand men, on which occasion the American barracks and store-houses, and the whole village of Peekskill was sacked and burnt dA^di the country pillaged."b The Weekly Mercury of Feb. 16th, 1778, (published by Hugh Gaines,) contains a letter from Commodore Hotham to Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Howe, which by his lordship was transmitted to all ships in service, <fcc., dated on board his Majesty's ship the Preston, lying oiF Peekskill creek. Major Burr was stationed at Peekskill on the 21st July, 1777, when he received a lieutenant colonel's commission in the continental army, and from this place the traitor Arnold likewise received his appointment to West Point, dated August the 3d, 1780.