On the 22d of November he issued orders to General Nixon to proceed with two brigades and a party of light horse "to Phillips's house," and, beginning at. that place, collect all the stout, able horses, all the cattle, fat and lean, and all the sheep and hogs, with the exception of such few milk cows and hogs as should be necessary to the subsistence of the families, and drive them up to the camp. Nixon was also directed to oblige the people to give up all their extra blankets and (-overlings, reserving a single one for tes each person. To the citizens thus dispossessed, however, certifica ion applicat upon sement reimbur to them were given which entitled to the proper army authorities.

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SITUATION -- THE

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the breaking up of the North Castle camp and the departure of Lee, the military situation in Westchester County assumed a very simple complexion. Only the two extreme positions, Kingsbridge and Peekskill, remained in the possession of any considerable body of troops. The former place preserved, under British domination, all the importance attached to it while held by the Americans. It was the key to New York City, which, until the end of the war, continued to be the principal and indeed only reliable base for the British forces in America. It is true that Newport (K, I.) was taken in the winter of 177(5, Philadelphia in (he fall of 1777, and various important Southern points at later periods. But all these were occupied only by isolated, temporary, or shifting British commands. New York alone, from the beginning to (he end of its possession by the enemy, was held without incidental disturbance on the part of the Americans or incidental loss of essential value to the British through the modifying circumstances of changing events.