The Commander was accompanied by his wife and military family, and lived at Newburgh till the latter part of the succeeding year. The old house, which is in an excellent state of preservation and is used as a repository for military relics, is upon a little plateau commanding a comj^rehensive view of the river, particularh^ where it flows between the towering hills that form the northern gatewa}' of the Highlands. The cottage has six rooms, besides the hall and kitchen. From the small i)iazza or "stoop" u]:»on the east, the entrance is into a large room, to which six other doors furnish ingress, while the one small window affords a subdued light. There is, on the south side of this room, a noble fireplace, where an ox might have been roasted whole. The visitor, standing upon the hearth, can see the sky through the chimne\'-to]:). The walls of the house are of stone, two feet thick, and the hewn rafters are of savoury cedar. Knox, Greene, Wayne, Hamilton, Steuben, Morris -- how the ghosts gather about that old table and train

412 The Hudson River

their soldier wit to gallantr}^ while the wife of their chief presides over the tea urn, or gravely discuss, after her retirement, the matters that have pre-eminency in American history. It was while living at Newburgh that Washington narrowly esca]3ed capture by an envoy of Sir Henry Clinton -- at least, so the legend runs. A man named Ettrick lived with his daughter in a secluded valley to the south of headquarters ;a place known as the Vale of Avoca. It was at the head of a long, narrow bay, but though only a short distance, as the bird flies, from the Hasbrouck cottage, it could only be reached by the road after making a detour of nearly two miles.