"About 12 o'clock, this night, (Nov. 5th, 1776, says General Heath) a party of Americans wantonly set fire to the Court House, and several other private houses, which stood between the two armies. This gave great disgust to the v.-hole American army, and drew from the commander-in-chief, the following paragraph, in his orders of the 6th : ' It is with the utmost astonishment and abhorrence, the general is informed, that some base and cowardly ^'.Tetches have, last night, set fire to the Court House and ocher buildings which the enemy left. The army may rely upon it, that they shall be brought to justice, and meet with the punishment they deser\e."'^

Pierre van Cortlandt, vice-president of the committee of public safety, under date of 2Sth November, thus feeUngly alludes to the event: --

•• Unhappy am I to add that amidst all our sufferings, the army employed for the protection of ^Vmerica, have not refrained from embhtering the calamities of war, at a time when the utmost resources of this State were laid open to theiiwants, and the mcrubers of Convention personally sulimitted to the labour and fatigue which were necessary on a sudden emergency, and after frequent losses of provisions and barracks, to supply two numerous armies, augmented by. the militia, with every article which they required, the Court-house and the remains of the village at the White Plains, which had been sp.ared on the retreat of our forces, were, even after the enemy had in their turn retired, wantonly destroyed, without the orders and to the infinite regret of our worthy general, besides, in spite of all his Excellency's efforts, wherever our troops have marched, or been stationed, they have done infinite damage to the property of the people.