AVhen Howe returned to England his conduct here was investigated by a committee of Parliament, but he refused to explain I'urther than to say that he "had political reasons." The question remained unanswered until tlfe publication, in 1879, by that laborious historian, Edward F. de Lancey, of " The History of New York during the Revolutionary War, by Thomas Jones," in which it appears that one William Demont, the adjutant of Colonel Magaw, the commander of Fort Washington, on New York Island, on the 2d day of November, 1776, passed undiscovered out of the fort and into the camp of Lord Percy, at Harlem, carrying with him plans of Fort Washington and full information as to the garrison, and placed them in the hands of the British officer. Percy, of course, sent the information to Lord Howe at White Plains ; the latter suddenly changed his plan of attacking Washington, and on the 4th of November prepared to march to Fort Washington, which he captured on the 16th of that month.

Within five months after the formal declaration of our independence the last vestige of the American army had been driven from the island of New York, and that place remained in possession of the British until the close of the war. During the war the British lines extended a few miles into Westchester

County. The lines of the American army first stretched across the county at White Plains, and gradually receded to the Croton River. That portion of the county between the two armies was then, and ever, since has been, known as the " Neutral Ground." This portion of Westchester County was the battleground of the disaffected, the prey of both friend and foe; scenes of cruelty and bloodshed unknown in civilized warfare marked these partisan engagements, and in defense of their homes, some of her valiant sons exhibited instances of personal bravery