His re enforcements could not have been large-- could hardly have been worth waiting for, indeed,-- since he took with him only 3,000 men. It seems to us that an important contributing reason, if not the chief reason, for his delay was a discreet resolve to wait until Washington, battling against great odds around Philadelphia, should, by his emergent necessities, summon to his own army part of Putnam's comthe better mand at Peekskill, and thus leave the Highlands in as weak a condition as possible. The facts are that he did not move until Washington had been reduced to such straits as to take to himself 2,500 of Putnam's best troops, -- but did move shortly afterward. At the selected moment Putnam had only 1,100 continentals and GENERAL JAMES CLINTON 400 militiamen at Peekskill, and the total garrisons of Forts Clinton and Montgomery were not in excess of (500, mostly New York militia Clinton and his brother, Genhastily gathered by Governor George eral James Clinton -- the former commanding at Fort Montgomery and the latter at Fort Clinton. On the 4th of October the expedition up the Hudson got under way. Its advance consisted of two ships-of-war, three tenders, and a large number of flatboals, and a second division followed comprising one large man-of-war, five topsail vessels, and numerous small craft. A stop was made at Tarrytown, where troops were landed and marched several miles into the country. But this maneuver, says Irving, was only a feint to distract attention. At night the men were re-embarked, and the next morning the whole force of some-