In all the official correspondence on the American side up to the day of Howe's landing in our county (October 12), there appears not the slightest inkling of the real designs of the British commander. Indeed, during the days when Howe was making the final preparations for his grand coup, American attention was absorbed by the successful passage of the three British frigates (the "Phoenix," " Roebuck," and "Tartar") up the Hudson River past the batteries of the forts and around the chevaux de frise, which was deemed a most calamitous occurrence. From the time of the appearance of the British expedition in New York waters the greatest solicitude had been felt for the safety of the whole Hudson Valley; and it seemed scarcely to admit of doubt that the early mastery of the Hudson as far as the Highlands, to be followed by progressive occupation of that most vital region, was a necessary feature of the comprehensive scheme for paralyzing all American resistance which this powerful expedition was manifestly intended to compass. Popular apprehension on this point was stimulated by the action of the British commander in dispatching ships up the Hudson almost immediately after his arrival in New York Bay. During the pause after the bitter American defeat on Long Island, all the conditions seemed to indicate that whatever General Howe's preference might: be in the selection of a quarter from which to renew his direct operations against Washington's army, he would at least not neglect to secure a substantial foothold at the essential points along the lower Hudson. Hence the American measures for obstructing the navigation of the river and for protecting the Highland passes. It is of course idle to speculate as to the probable results, in their relations at least to the ultimate fortunes of the war, that would have attended an effective land occupation at this early period of the western part of our county, or even of the very small section from Verplanck's