Philadelphia : 1S04, ii., 495,496,) very accurately, stated the object of the movement was to secure to General Howe the possession of the North-river above Kingsbridge, without, however, stating more than that. Sparks, (Life of George Wathiiigtm, Ed Boston : 1842, 194,) said they " secured a free passage to " the Highlands, fhi-reby preventing any supplies, from coming to the " American Army, by water." Hildreth, (History of the United States, iii., 154,) said, only, they " cut off all supplies from the country, South " and West of that river," the Hudson. Bancroft, (History jf (he United State; original edition, ix., 174 ; Ihe same, centenary edition, v., 439,)

surmises of General Washington and those of the Convention were thrown out before the ships had reached the anchorage-ground to which they had been ordered and, therefore, before either their destination or the purposes for which they had been ordered to move up to Tarrytown were definitely made known to any one, except to their own Officers, there is no evidence whatever, in the subsequent conduct of those ships, to give the slightest weight to any of those earlier surmises, no matter by whom originated ; and the direction in which the alarm of the Commander-in-chief and the Convention trended, in the light afforded by immediately subsequent events, was, certainly, not the right one -- the ships certainly made no attempt to renew the previously unsuccessful attempt to give countenance and support, for military purposes, to the disaffected farmers of Westchester-county: they certainly made no attempt whatever to seize the forts in the Highlands and to occupy the water communication through the Highlands: and there is not the slightest evidence that they effected or attempted to effect combinations with anybody, on shore, for any purpose whatever. Had their purpose been to cut off the supplies of the American Army, as some have supposed and stated -- a project which would have been unnecessary, if the American Army was to be obliged to abandon its strong position, near Kingsbridge, in order to prevent the enemy from falling on its rear -- the ships would not have anchored at so great a distance from the American lines ; nor would they have chosen, as their station, the widest part of the river, at that place quite three miles wide, of which two-thirds or more are shoal-water, over which the small river-craft could pass and re-pass, with impunity ; while, within four miles, equally good anchorage grounds could have been found, equally safe from interference from the Americans, less exposed to the heavy winds of the season, which would have required not more than onehalf the extent of guard-duty, and, at the same time, which would have been equally effective, for the purpose named.