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. This fort was to be retained as long as possible in compliance with the resolution passed by Congress. A garrison that was large if measured by the loss its subtraction occasioned the little army, but absurdly inadequate for the work expected of it, was left under command of Colonel Magaw, to whom Washington gave a solemn injunction to defend it to the last extremity. It was at this time that the name of Fort Constitution was changed to Fort Lee, and the command of that post given to General Greene. The series of moves by which Washington foiled Howe's attempt to get in his rear and the resulting battle of White Plains are not part of the story of the river and must not be dwelt upon here. At the time when the assault upon Chatterton's hill was about

Forts Washington and Lee 185

to be made the distant thundering of cannon in the neighbourhood of Manhattan startled the contestants. Two of the enemy's war-ships had anchored at Burdett's Feny, a short distance below the forts, with the evident purpose of cutting communication between the island and the mainland, by stopping the ferr3\ At the same time British troops appeared on Harlem plains. When the lines in that direction w^ere manned by Americans from the forts, the vessels opened fire, attempting to dislodge them, but an eighteen-pound gun on the Manhattan side and two on the Jersey shore returned their fire and hulled them repeatedly, so that they were glad to drop down the river.