His ship foundered, and he and his whole family perished. The first vessels of the British expedition against New York, which arrived at Sandy Hook on June 2!), were gradually joined by the entire fleet. The united military force comprised the army formerly quartered in Boston (which, after evacuating that place, had been transported to Halifax), some troops from the Southern colonies, n large addition of fresh troops from England, and some fourteen thousand Hessian mercenaries. In the aggregate there were 33,614 men, of whom 24,404 were in condition for battle. It was by far the largest army ever gathered in America during the Revolution. It seemed probable that General Howe's attack on New York would not be in the form of a naval bombardment of the city or of a debarkation of the army on Manhattan Island, but of a movement thither from Long Island. There Washington had earned defenses to be fortified and occupied, whose inner line extended from Gowanus

HISTORY

WESTCHESTER

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seems Creek to Wallabout Bay. General Howe's original intentionmove to to have been to disembark immediately on Long Island and his destination with all possible energy. On July 1 the fleet was brought up to Gravesend Bay (Coney Island), with the evident design of effecting a landing the next morning. But if such was the purpose of the British commander, he promptly abandoned it (being actuated, it is supposed, by the prudential feeling that it would be wisest to await the arrival of the bulk of his forces); and, indeed, it was not until the 22d of August that the landing on Long Island was made. There Washington was granted a respite of seven weeks, which he availed of by perfecting the Long Island defenses and making all practical arrangements for concentrating in that quarter a force capable of resisting the invasion.