At the commencement of the Revolutionary War this hill was rented by two grand-sons of the first proprietor, Thomas and Gilbert Valentine, who occupied it through the whole course of the war. In the summer of i775> the American army threw up entrenchments on its summit, the remains of which are still visible. When his Excellency General Washington lay encamped on Valentine's hill in the Fall of 1776, it was supposed to be the design of the enemy to attack his position. On this occasion Thomas Valentine was engaged with the General in conversation, leaning upon the pommel of his saddle, when the heads of the British columns were seen approaching at a distance of three or four miles on the opposite side of the Bronx, as if taking the direction of the hilL Under this supposition, Washington ordered out several companies to attack the flanking parties of the enemy, who, it was discovered were taking the high road to the White Plains. It was afterwards asserted by a British officer, that through the aid of their glasses they had seen Thomas Valentine and the General in conversation.

Washington ha\-ing ascertained the intention of the enemy, pushed on his left wing to the White Plains, while his right occupied the hill.

From the 12th to the 27th of October, 1776, the American army lay entrenched in detached camps, from this hill to the White Plains." On the ?7th, as the enemy continued to advance upon the White Plains, General Washington suddenly called in all his detachments, and abandoning the position he had occupied along the Bronx, assembled all his forces in a strong camp upon Chatterton Heights. Upon the sSth of October, the day of the battle, it was asserted by the residents on the hill, that not only was the cannonade distinctly heard, but also the singing of the Hessians as they advanced to the attack the American position.