About this time Clinton was also in receipt of several letters from committees in Cornwall and Newburgh, informing him of the presence of certain active Royalists who were forming a conspiracy to cooperate with the British troops upon their arrival. But not even the ])resence of a powerful enemy on the one side and dangerous neighbours on the other could dampen the ardour with which the Colonial party in New York greeted the news that the instrument which proclaimed the independence of the American Colonies had been signed at Philadelphia. For several days the patriots celebrated the great event, incidentally pulling down the leaden statue of George III., which, in a spasm of loyalty, they had erected only a short time before. Putnam was not idle: his defences were rapidly growing. The forts commanding the North River about this time included the Grand Battery, at the southern extremity of the island; Fort George, immediately north of it ; White Hall Battery, on the left of the Grand Battery ; Oyster Battery, behind General Washington's headquarters; Grenadier Battery, " Near the Brew House on the North River"; Jersey Battery, at the left of the one last named; Bayard Hill Redoubt, on Bayard's Hill, now Grand Street; Spencer's, on a hill where General Spencer's brigade was encamped;

The Island and the River in 1776 169

and Waterbury's Battery, on a wharf below Spencer's hill, and Bedlam's Redoubt, on a hill near the Jews' burying-ground. In addition to these works Putnam was completing his ]jlans for the destruction of the British fleet and the obstruction of the Hudson River. Earh^ in July he wrote to General Gates, commanding the Northern department, as follows: