After Colonel Putnam had refreshed himself and his horse at the Head-quarters of the Brigade -- as Lord Stirling was a bon vivant and an extravagant liver, the weary Colonel was, undoubtedly, well-refreshed -- he set out for Head-quarters, by way of Yonkers, a road on which he had not previously traveled ; and as it was dark, and because the country over which he was to pass was largely inhabited by those who were unfriendly to the Americans, rendering it hazardous for him to make inquiries, his journey was peculiarly dangerous. It is said, however, that he reached Head-quarters, in safety, about nine o'clock ; that he was received by General Washington, who heard his verbal Eeport and examined the sketch of the country which he made for the illustration of the Eeport and

8 The position of that noted Tavern may be ascertained by a reference to the Plan of the Country from Frog' s Point to Croton River, opposite page 239, ante : if we are correctly informed, the property is now owned and occupied by Hon. Silas D. Gifford, recently County Judge of Westchestercounty.

* Vide page 238, ante.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

to. show the relative positions of the several bodies of the King's forces and the Magazine, at the White Plains ; that the General was surprised that the Army was so greatly imperiled, "complaining, very feelingly, " of the gentlemen: of New York, from whom he had " never been able to obtain a plan of the country, "and saying that it was by their advice he had or- " derad the Stores, to the White Plains, as a place of "safety,;'' that General, Greene and General George Clinton were called in, to vouch for. the accuracy of the sketch; that Colonel Putnam "was charged with "a letter to Brigadierrgeneral Lord Stirling, and " ordered immediately to his Camp, which he reach- " ed, by the same route, ahout two o'clock .;'' that, " before daylight, the Brigade was in motion, in .full " march, for the White Plains, where it arrived, about " nine o'clock, on the morning of the twenty-first of "October;" and that "thus was the American Army " saved by < an interposition of Providence, from a " probably total destruction."