On the 9th of October, however, the Roebuck and Phoenix, each of forty-four guns, and the Tartar, of twenty guns, which had l^een lying for some time opposite Bloomingdale, got under way with their three tenders, at 8 o'clock in the morning, and came standing up the river with an easy southern breeze. At their approach, the galleys and the two ships intended to be sunk got under way with all haste, as did a schooner laden with rum, sugar, and other supplies for the American army, and the sloop with Bushnell's submarine machine. The Roebuck, PJiaiiix, and Tartar broke through the vaunted barriers as through a cobweb. Seven batteries kept a constant lire upon them, yet a gentleman was observed walking th? deck of the second shij) as coolly as if nothing were the matter. Washington, indeed, in a letter to Schuyler, says, "They passed without any kind of damage or interruption; but Lord Howe reports to the Admiralty that they suffered much in their masts and rigging and that a lieutenant, two midshipmen, and six men were killed and eighteen wounded. ' '

1 84 The Hudson River

The attempt to complete the obstructions occupied, it would seem, a considerable portion of Washington's attention in the weeks that intervened between the battle of Harlem Heights and that of White Plains. He ordered that two hulks which lay -- as hulks still lie -- in Spuyten Duyvil creek, be ballasted and sunk, and that others that had grounded near Yonkers be brought down and consigned to a similar use. A council of officers, called by the commander, discussed the question of attempting to retain the position occupied by the American army upon Manhattan Island, and it was decided -- with only the voice of General Clinton raised in dissent -- to abandon all the works with the exception of Fort Washington.