Scharf, J. Thomas, ed. History of Westchester County, New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I. Philadelphia: L.E. Preston & Co., 1886.
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On the twentieth of October, Lieutenant-colonel Harcourt, with the greater portion of the Sixteenth Regiment of Light Dragoons -- the other portion of the Regiment having embarked on a transport which had not come into port -- and the whole of the Seventeenth Regiment of Light Dragoons, joined General Howe ; and, on the next day, {^October 21, 1776,] thus strengthened, the …
But, because the entire military force, except the garrison of Fort Washington, had been moved into Westchester-county as early as noon, on the twentieth ; because General Greene had found Head- quarters, " near King's Bridge," on the evening of the nineteenth, {Letter to the Continental O^igress, "Camp at Fout Lk.e, (lately Fort Constitution,) October 20, 1776;") because …
■ Sautliier's Plan of the Operations af the King's Army. « General Itoive to Lord George Germnine, " New- York, 30 November, "1770;" [llM's\ History of the Cii-U War in Amerira, i., 205 ; .Stedman's History of the American War, i., 212 ; Gordon's History uf Ihe American Ileiolntion, ii., 339 ; Sauthier's Plan of Ihe OperatUms of the King's Army ; Plan of the Country from …
While the General was at the White Plains, on that tour of inspection, \_October 21, 1776,] he jDersonally examined the Stores which had been accumulated at that place, and renewed his earnest entreaties^ with the Commissary-general of Provisions to supply the posts in that vicinity, in time, with Flour and Beef, for present use ; to form other Magazines of Provisions, " in …
1 General Washhiglon h Colonel Lachlan Mcintosh of Georgia^ " White- " Plains, October 21, 177G;" Limlenunt colonel TUghman to William Duer, " HEAD-QUARTEns, Valkntine's-Hill, 22 Oct., 1776." 2 Cfolonel R. H. Harrison to William hner, "Camp on Valentine's- " Hills, October 21, 1776 ; " the same to the Continental Congress, '* Head- " QCAKTEiiS, Valentine's-Hill, October21 …
General Howe having been equally active, during the same period, only a few miles distant,'" the extreme right of that line, at Kingsbridge, was, also, the scene ot bustle and active preparation for a movement -- Orders had been issued for the movement of the Division commanded by Major-general Heath, then occupying the grounds around Kingsbridge and, thence, northward, to …
The Division commanded by Major-general Heath, as we have said, (except General George Clinton, with the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Nicolls, Pawling, Graham, and Swartwout,) was ordered to move, left in front, at eight o'clock in the morning, if possible : the advance-guard was to consist of one hundred men, taken from General Scott's Brigade ; and was to …
Each of the Brigades of the Division was to have a wagon-load of Tools, which was ordered to be moved with the heavy artillery. A number of the Spears which were at Fort Independence was to be loaded on each wagon, with the Tools; and Colonel Thomas and Colonel Drake were respectively ordered to send to each of the Regiments of the Division, a Guide, who was well acquainted …
A detachment of six hundred men, under the command of Colonel Lasher, was ordered to remain, near Kingsbridge, until further orders -- two hundred and fifty of the number were to occupy the barracks of Colonel Thomas's Regiment ; fifty were to be posted in Colonel Swartwout's regimental barracks ; fifty were to be posted in General Scott's Brigade barracks ; fifty were to …
The guards then posted at Morrisania were to be called in, during the evening of that day, and to follow the Division, on the following morning; and a small guard, evidently to be supplied from the detachment at Fort Independence, was to be continually posted on the high grounds, toward Morrisania, for the security of the detachment.' All these specific Orders, which were …
It will be seen by the reader, that the Division which was thus pushed forward, to the White Plains, was in light marching order, evidently taking with it no more than the personal Baggage of the Officers and men ; that it was pushed forward, with all possible expedition, if it may not properly be said to have been by a forced march ; and that it was not halted on its line of …
Among tliose from whom we have thus dissented, are the despatch of General Howe to Lord Geoi'ge Germaine, " New-York, "30 November, 177C ; " Annual Register forlTid: History of Europe, *177'; History of the War in America, Dublin: 1779, i., 194 ; [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 207 ; Gordon's History of the American Revolution, ii., 1539; Stedman's History of …
When the retreat was originally determined on, the necessity for a prompt and immediate occupation of the new-selected |>osition was too evident to admit of any such halts, for any such purposes ; and, in the great scarcity of Teams for the removal of the Stores and Baggage and Artillery, which required the men to take the places of beasts of burden, in dragging and carrying …
On the high ground, on the opposite side of the "deep hollow," General Heath posted the Regiment of New York troops commauded by Colonel William Malcolm, and Lieutenant Fenno of the Artillery, the latter with a field -piece, with instructions to occupy a position in the skirt of the wood which covered the upper portion of the high ground, " at the South brow " of the hill and …
* Now forming a portion of what is known as " The Underliill " Farm." 5 Tliis description of the ground occui>ied by tlie Division commanded by General Ileath, has been taken, largely in his own words, from his Memoirn^ evidently written by himself, page 75. For our statements concerning the present names and owners uf the several properties referred to, we are indebted to the …
They were never to march in slow time ; were directed "to fire with precision and steadiness; to wield the bayonet with force "and effect; to disperse and rally with rapidity. In short, in the in- " structions for the management of the Corps, its conmiander seems to " have anticipated the more modern tactics of the French Armj*." -- i^Memoir of Lieutenant coloiwl Sinicoe …
The movement was made with good judgment and ability; the Rangers were entirely surprised, through the carelessness of their sentries ; and, as was stated by an Officer in the Royal Army," they were "very roughly " handled." In consequence of the bad conduct of the guides whom Colonel Haslet had employed,'^ however, the success was not as complete as it probably would have …
'0 In Lieutenant-colonel Tilghnian's letter to his father, dated " Vai- " entine's-Hill 4 MILES FROM KiNGSBRiDGE 22 October 1776," it is ex- ^ pressly stated that "the General " -- by which term he referred to General Washington, whose Aide-de-Camp he wiis and with whom he had been, while the Commander-in-Chief was at the White Plains -- " detached "Major Green * * » to fall …
13 In Lieutenant-colonel Tilghnian's letter to his father, already mentioned, it is said "they counted 2.5 killed in one Orchard, how many got " oft" wounded we dont know ;" and in Colonel Haslet's letter to General Rodney, already referred to, it was said, "his Lieutenant and a number " of others were left dead on the spot." ^* Lieutenant-colonel Tilghmanfo his father …
including, among the trophies of their bravery, " a ^'pair of Colors, sixty stund of Arms, and a variety of "plunder,"' among the latter of which were "a good •"many Blankets."^ On the side of the Americans, "three or four were left, dead, and. about fifteen were " wounded, among the latter, Major Green, of the "Second Virginia Regiment, wounded in the shoul- " der, and …
♦James Cannady,t ♦Frederic Bevoe, ♦Moses Travis, David Lawrence, Abraham Brown, ♦James Angevine, ♦Elnathan Appleby, John Charlick, Jedediah Davis, Jeremiah Wood, * Jacob Cadwell Burr, Reuben Stivers, James Jleleon, [*-Nelson f] ♦David Travis, Noah Brown, John Worden, AVilliam VVaahburn. ♦Elijah Bartow, 1 Colonel Hatlet foGeneral Rodney, " White-Plains, October 28, 1776." ^ …
" PllIA, Wednesday, October :!0, 1776," and in Force's Amei-ican Archives, •T., ii., 1203 ; /16ram Clark to Colonel Dayton, " Eliza bethtown, October "26, 1776;" Extract from a letter published by the Continental Congress, in The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1770, "Philadelphia, Wednesday, "November 6,1776;" General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " New- " York, 30 November, 1776 …
Bancroft, in his History uf the I'nilt d Slates, (original edition, ix., 178 ; centenary edition, v. 442,) regarded the Rangers as only "a picket of "Rogers's Regiment of R<ingei-8," notwithstanding General Howe had described it, definitely, as a detachment of the entire "Corps of Rjin- "gers," not a portion of it, only, which had been sent forward, " to take possession of …
Indeed, in the words of one of the best-informed writers of the history of those operations of the King's Navy, himself an Officer of the Army and a personal witness of what he described, " a vigor "and exertion, unequalled in any former expedi- " tion, prevailed through all classes in the Navy, "extinguishing jealousies, and banishing all those "ideas of pre-eminence and rank …
On Friday sixty-five sail of vessels, " under convoy of the Diamond and Ambuscade, with the second divis- " ion of the Hessians and one thousand Waldeckers, under the command " of the Generals Knyphausen and Schinidtz, and a number of recruits for " the British troops, in all about eight thousand effective men, arrived " off Sandy-Hook. They sailed from Plymouth Sounil, the …
Bolton, in his History of Westchester-county, (original edition, i., 140 ; second edition, i., 688) said General Knyphausen landed on Myers point, or Davenport's neck, "ten days previous to the battle of White-Plains," [October 18,] the day on which he had reached Sandy-hook ; anil in the first of the two editions, he cited, as his authority, Stedman's History of the American …
While General Sullivan and his command were thus moving towards the White Plains, a raid was made from the Regiment which occupied the entrenched Camp at Mile-Square, in which a Corporal and two Privates, with the approval of the Colonel, " went out to see what they could pick up," and succeeded in bringing in "a number of fat Cattle," without pretending, however, that they …
' It is one of the singular portions of the history of that eventful Campaign, that the only mention which we have found, concerninj; General Sullivan's servires, as Major-general commanding one of the great Divisions of the .\morican Army, in Westchester-county, is that merely incidental remark, by CJeneral Heath, to which wo have referred. There appears, also, in the …
* Extract of a lelt^r from " C\MP at Mile-Square Eastchesteh," dated "23 October, 177G," published in The Frveman's Jonrnul or Xeic- Hompi'hire Gn:ette, Volume I., Number 25, Poktsmovtm, Tuesday, November 12, 1776. 5 Ibid. In Lieutenant colonel Tench Tilghman's letter to William Duer. dated ' HEAn-cjUARTEUs, White-Plaixs, October 2:i, 1776," the narrative was differently told …
During the entire period succeeding the determination to move the main body of the American Army from the Heights of Harlem to the White Plains, there were the most active preparations to secure a successful retreat, throughout every portion of the Armj\ It is said the Mortars, some of the Cannon, a portion of General Washington's Baggage, and some of the Sick had been taken …
*'177G,"and copied into The Vemisi/lmvia Jo7fnial, No. 1770, Philadelphia, Wednesday, November 6, 1776, stated that the affair occurred on AVednesday, the tvienty-third of October, as stated in the text ; that the supporting party belonged to Colonel Hand's Keginient of Kiflemen, instead of to Colonel Glover's Regiment ; that the Americans buried ten of the Hessians, on the …
6 Colonel Glover's letter, dated " Mile-Sqi are, October 22,* 1776," published in The Frceman^s Jourital and Xeir-Hampshire Gazette, Vol. I., No. 27, I'onTSMOVTH, Tuesday, November 26, 1770. ' Doctor Sparks, in the Writings of George Washington, iv., 152, note ; Memoir of General Heath, 75. Compare, also. Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to the New York Convention, " Head-qlarters …
to the White Plains, reaching that place on the following morning ; ^ and the Comnumder-in-chief " was " almost the whole time on horsehack," '■' his Correspondence^ and even the Orderly-books of the Army* clearly indicated that his personal supervision of the entire movement and of all which pertained to it was unstintingly given. It is not now known when General Lee and his …
Surely the little tree-fringed Bronx did not offer any serious obstruction : surely the entrenched Camps behind which the heavily laden column was slowly marching, and which were abandoned when the column reached Uiem, those who had occupied them falling in and increasing the strength of the moving force, did not intimidate him : rather let it be supposed that General Howe's …
3Tho twenty-second of October afforded tlie only letter in his published Correspondence, between the fifteenth of October and the sixth of November ; and Doctor Sparlis, wlio comlucteii l)is Writings througli Iho Press, stated, in explanation, " tlie unsettled state of tlie Army, "for several days siicceeding the date of this letter," [tluU of the sixth of Nortmber,} "allowed …
varied his duties by throwing a party of his command, over the Bronx, during the night of Wednesday, the twenty-third of October, in order to beat up the outposts of the enemy ; and one of these, near Ward's Tavern, between Tuckahoe and Scarsdale, and occupied by two hundred and fifty Hessians, was successfully attacked, early in the following morning, \_Thursday, October 24,] …
Hamilton, of Dobbs's-ferry, in a conversation with us,, many years ago, told U3 that his father, Captain Alexander Hamilton, lost his Baggage, on the march of General Lee's command from Harlem Heights to the White Plains ; and The Middle^^ex Journal and Evening Advertiser, No. 120(1, Lonud.n : From Saturday, December 21, to Tuesday, December 24, 1776, cuntiiine a letter from …
Colonel .John Glover, in the letter from which we have learned so much of this Campaign, and who was with General Lee, stated, evidently erroneously, that the column did not reach the White Plains until ten o'clock on Monday morning, the twenty eighth of October, after having marched during the whole of the preceding night, (Colonel Glover^s h t- <er,dated " MiLE-SyUARE …
The official Plan of the Countrt/ from Frog's Point to Croton i^iferand Sauthier's Plan of the Operafiom, etc., each stated that the columu was not in motion after the twenty-seventh of October. There is abundant evidence, within Colonel Glover's own letter, that he was in error, two days, in this particular statement. Colonel Glover's letter, dMed " Mile .Scjuahe, October 22 …
The White Plains, the place which appeared to have been designated by both the great opposing powers, as if by mutual consent, for that on which the great questions then pending between Great Britain and the united States of America were to be determined by the arbitrament of Arms, the County-seat of the ancient County of Westchester, is situated on the upper extremity of a …
About three quarters of a mile westward from the principal roadway of the unpretentious little Village, flowed the small stream which was, then, as it is, now, called " The Bronx-river," forming the western boundary of the plain referred to, and separating it from "The " Manor of Philipseborough ; " to the Northwest and Northeast of the Village, respectively, were bold and …
" When General Lee removed, he was obliged to leave eighty or ninety " barrels of Provisions, of all kinds, for want of Wagons." -- (Lieuteuanlcolonel Tench Tilghman to Witluim Duer^ "Head-quarters, White- " Plains, October27, 1776.") Bancroft, in his History of the United States, (original edition, ix., 179 ; the same, centenary edition, v., 443,) said "sixty or seventy …
A temporary line of works had been previously constructed along the northerly line of the road which extended from the Meeting-house of the Presbyterian -church, past the house of Jacob Purdy, to the Bronx-river* -- that road which connected the White Plains with Dobbs's-ferry ; but the entrenchments which were thrown up for the defence of the Army, occupied a line from the …
Tompkins, already referred to ; and, eastward from that central earthwork, up the gradual slope, over properties recently owned by Leonard Miller, John Fisher, the widow of James Fisher, and Henry Willetts -- those of Leonard Miller being now owned by his two sons; those of John Fisher, by numerous persons; and those of Henry Willetts, by Charles Deutermann -- to what was then …
It was probably thrown up by the small body of Militia who had occupied that position, as a guard of the Stores which had been accumulated at that place, while the main Army occupied the Heights of Harlem ; but the subsequent occupation of the ground, which has been do.scribed in the text, by the main Army, was followed by the construction of a line of works, on the high …
6 " I now snatch an opportunity by the Post of informing you that * "26 -- We Have ben a moveing our Tents to the top of the Hill th s " Day."-- (David How's Diari/, October 26, 1776.") THE AMEKICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783. the Brigades conithanded, respectively, by Generals George Clinton, John Morin Scott, and Samuel H. Parsons, the two former having been posted near the …
On the twenty-seventh of October, the small force which had been left in Fort Independence, when General Heath's Division was moved from near Kingsbridge to the White Plains,^ was ordered to remove the Cannon and Stores from that post to Fort Washington ; to burn the several Barracks which had been erected, there, with so much difficulty and at so great an expense ; and, " …
" General Ucnougal's Brigade, of which the Maryland Regulars is " a part, having laid in the woods for three nights," [preceding the day of the action oh Chatterton^s-hilt, that is to sny, on the nights of thettceniijfifUt, lirentii-airth, and twent;i-sevenlh of October,] " two miles from this " place, and to the right of the main body, as a covering party, was or- ** dered to …
I have only time to add that I am with usual " health, though in no better lodging than a soldier's tent, with our old "friend General Scott." {General George Clinton to John McKesson, "C.^MP^■E.^K White-Plains, October 31, 17"fi.") '"On the same evening," [October 23,] "Col. Tyler's, Huntington's, and "Throop's Regiments, of General Parson's Brigade and of our General's " …
ington, in person, was composed, nominally, of about twenty-five thousand, four hundred, and fifty men, of whom about twelve thousand and fifty were sick, on independent commands, or on furlough; leaving only about thirteen thousand, four hundred, rank and file, present and fit for duty.** The supply of Provisions, as the reader has been already informed,'" was exceedingly …
Adding to these, those who had been killed and missing during the period which had intervened between the time of which we write and the date of the Returns referred to, in which occurred the action on Chatterton's-bill and all the other military operations in the vicinity of the White Plains ; and it will be seen that, when tlic Army occupied tlie high grounds, to the …
From the best in- "telligence he is able to obtain, there is not more, in Camp and at " the several places where it has been deposited, than will serve the " Army longer than four or five days, provided the utmost care and "economy were used in issuing it out; but from the waste and em- " bezzlement, for want of proper attention to it, as is reported to him, " it is not …
The demand for 3Iedicines is very great ; and we "cannot procure a sufficiency, at any rate." -- {Doctor John Morgan, Medical Director of the Army, to John Jay, " North-Castle, October 28, "1776.") A letter from Doctor John Pine, of the Maryland Line, to James Tilghman, of .\nnapolis, dated, "Camp at White-Plains, November 7, " 1776," contains a detailed statement of the …
" We are requested by the Generals of our State to inform you of the "absolute necessity our troops are in for want of Clothing." -- {Charles D. Witt, Robert Harper, and Lewis Graham to the President of the Xew York Convention, " White Plains, October 24, 1776.") " The Colonel and Major Barber came here, last evening; and the "Regiment is now within a few miles of this place …
The Eastern troops were stigmatized as, generally, nothing else than a mass of speculating poltroons, for which, very often, there was abundant reason ; ' and they, reciprocated the illfeeling of those from the Middle and Southern States, by branding them as " Aristocrats " and " Maccaronis "--the former of the two sobriquets in allusion to the distinctions of rank which were …
3 The following is a specimen of a multitude of such testimonials of the speculative propensities of the New England troops, in the Army of the Revolution, and of their too frequent dishonesty in their operations, which are accessible to every one. Every careful student can command many such evidences ; but this, written by the Conmiissary-general of Provisions of the …
You'll see by adverting to the Returns, that some Companies "have more Officers than Privates, at best ; but not content with that, " and instead of sending home the Officers who have very few men, " almost none, and turning over those few men into other Companies, " they add Brevet Officei-s, not only to pick the pockets of the pub- " lick, here, but, also, those Brevet …
********* " I am, honoured Sir, your dutiful Son, '•Jos. Trumbull. " Governour Trumbull." We have seen no evidence that either General Wooster or Conmiissary-geueral Trumbull took any steps for either the arrest of the offenders or a suppression of the offences. and properly disciplined * -- adding fuel to the flame of discord, which, on more than oue occasion, required all …
Lieutenant-colonel Rogers, with the Corps of Loyalists known as " The Queen's " Rangers," was detached from the main body of the Army, and pushed forward to take possession of Mamaroneck,' where, on the following night, he and his command "were roughly handled," by a party of Americans who had been despatched from the AVhite Plains, for that purpose ; * which led General Howe …
General Howe ordered Lieutenant-general Heister, with the Left of the Army, to join in the movement ; and, on Thursday, the twenty-fourth, and on Friday, the twenty-fiftb, of October, the main body of the Royal Army was moved from the positions on which it had rested, for several days, towards Scarsdale.'- It moved in two •1 Reed s Life of Joseph Heed, i., 2.39-24-2 ; Gordon's …
columns, with great caution ; ' and, on the twenty-fifth of October, when the heads of the columns reached Scarsdale, after their two dajs' march, they were halted; and the Army encamped in a line which was parallel with the Bronx-river and with the line of march, on the opposite side of that little stream, on which General Lee, with his heavily laden column) was transporting …
In his letter totbe President of the Pongress, dated " Head-qt arters, " White- Plains, 25 October, 1776," Colonel Robert H. Harrison, General Washington's Secretary, stated that "about two o'clock this afternoon, " intelligence was brought to Head-quarters, that three or four detach- "mentsof the enemy were on their mHrch, and had advanced within "about four miles of this …
The failure of General Washington to obtain information of the movements of the King's troops, of which so many instances have been seen, was nowhere more evident than in the instance now under consideration- «ne of the reasonable results of the outrages to which the inhabitants had been subjected, by both the Congresses and*the Committees, on the one hand, and by the …
His object seems to have been to avoid "skirmishing, and to bring on a general action, if that could be effected "under favorable circumstances ; if not, he knew well the approaching "diwolution of the American Army, and calculated, not without reason, " to derive from that event nearly all the advantages of a victory. He "proceeded, therefore, slowly. His marches were in …
ever may have been thought and said of his failure to cross the Bronx and to attack the heavily laden column commanded by General Lee, the maxims of military science, at that time, forbade a movement towards the White Plains, then, leaving his left flank and his rear exposed to the three Divisions commanded, respectively, by Generals Lee, Spencer, and Lincoln.' There was a …
Notwithstanding the silence of General Howe, concerning his purpose in moving his command to Scarsdale, instead of to the White Plains, there is reason for supposing that it was done for the purpose of cutting ofl' the column commanded by General Lee, before it could join the main body; that preparations for the movement, on the following morning, were made on the afternoon …
■i In a letter which was written by an Officer of the Royal Army, dated on the tenth of Xovember, and printed in The Middlesex Jonrnal and Eiening Adeerliser,}so. 1209, Lo.NDON : From Saturday, December 21, to Tuesday, December 24, 1771;, will be found our authority for what we have saiil of the purposes of General Howe, of his preparations for carrying out those purposes, and …
At length, all the necessary preparations having been completed, early in the morning of Monday, the twenty-eighth of October, the Royal Army struck its tents, in the encampment, at Scarsdale, which it had occupied since the preceding Friday ; and, in two columns, right in front, it moved towards the White Plains. ' The right column, which was composed mostly of British …
its arrival at the White Plains, at ten o'clock on the following morning, were in entire harmony with what was stated by the British Officer, through The 3Iiddtesex Jimnial. 1 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, " New-Tork, 30 November, " 1770 ; " [Hall's] History of the Civil War in America, i., 207 ; Stednian's History of the American War, i., 212 : Gordon's Histimj of the …
<> General Howe lo Lord George Gennaine, " New-York, 30 November, " 1776 ; " [Hall's] IFislory of the CioU War in America, i., 207 ; Stedman's History of the Ami-rican War, i.,212 ; Marshall's Life of George Wathington, ii., 503 ; etc. ^Extract of a letter from a Gentleman in the Army, dated "Camp near "the Mill.*!, about three miles North of Wmite-Pi.ains, November "1, 1776," …
We have learned from the Iteturns of the Killed, Wounded, and Missing, on that day, of Regiments who are known to have taken no part whatever in the subseiiuent action on Chatterton's-hill, of what Keginients that force who met tlie King's troops, near Hart's-corners, was composed: it contained the llegiments commanded by Colonels Silliman, Selden, Sage, and Douglass-- the …
At first, they, " [the Hessians,'] " fell back ; but, rallying again, immediately, and the" [righf] " column of British troops having advanced "upon our " [General Spencer's'] "left, it became nec- "essary" [for him] "to retire;"'" taking the opportunity, " occasionally," to form behind the stone walls, on the line of his retreat, and to annoy those who pursued him " -- it has …
" North OP White-Plains, November 1,1776," we have already made extracts, stated that the command of General Spencer, on the occasion under notice, " consisted, in the whole of five or six hundred men ; " but, on the third of November, five days 'after the engagement, the same Regiments reported an aggregate strength of four thousand, seven hundred, and ninety-six, of whom …
Lieutenant colonel Tench Tilghinan, one of the Aides of General Washington, in a letter to his father, dated "White-Plains, 3l8t Octo- " ber, 1776," said, "On Monday morning we reel Information that the " Enemy were in Motion and in March towards our Lines, all our Men " were immediately at their Alarm Posts and about 20(10 detached to give "the Knemy as much annoyance as …
n It was that Brigade, commanded by the same Colonel, Rail, who was captured at Ti'enton, in the following December; and we have ascertained the Regiments of whom it was composed, from the despatch of General Howe to Lord George Germaine, dated "New-York, December " 29, 1776," announcing that disaster to the Royal Army, to the Home Government. In the despatch of General …
After having described the retreat of the detachment of Americans and the ])ursuitby the Brigade of Hessians, the rush of the former for the ford and the anxiety of the fugitives to pass the river, he said, "' They," {_the Americans,] " immediately entered the river and ascended "the hill; while I, being in the rear and mounted on "horseback, endeavored to hasten the last of …
s It is amusing to see Connecticut-men claim that these poltroons were those who fought the Battle and defended Chatterton's hill, without alluding to any other troops, unless without giving them credit for having done anything worthy of notice. {LeUer from a Gmtteman m the .irmy, "C.KMP NE.kR THE Mills, ABOUT three jiiles North krom the "White Plains, Xovemlier 1, 1776 ;" …
On the left of the line of march of the Royal Army and on the western bank of the Bronx-river, which flowed through a marshy valley of some extent, at its biise, arose the bold and rocky height which was known , then, and is still known, as " Chatterton's-hill." It is one of the range of high grounds, on the western side of the Bronx, on which the line of entrenched …
' Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, prepared by himself, 14. ' Our personal knowledge of the ground is our authority for this description of it. Stedman, in his History of the American War, (i., 214,) attempted to qualify that fact--" it rose so gradually from the Bronx," he said, " that " its crest was not within random cannon-shot, as was proved by many "of our …
' Because a portion of General Lincoln's Division, with all of that of General Spencer, had been detached from the main body of the Army, and sent forward, with orders to occupy all the high grounds, between Yalentine's-hill and the White Plains, and to strengthen them with entrenchments ; and because the Regiment conunanded by Colonel Brookft formed a portion of one of the …
We are not insensible that words employed by Colonel Harrison, in his letter to the President of the Congress, dated "White-Plains, 29 "October, 1776," have been construed to mean that troops had been sent down, on the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, " with a view of " throwing up some lines, ' on Chatterton's-hill ; and that the biographer of Colonel Rufus Putnam …
It appears that Colonel Haslet's command was the first of the reinforcements to reach the hill ; ^ and it is very probable that it was either that Eegiment or that commanded by Colonel Brooks or both, together, on the summit of the high ground, on his right, which led Colonel Rail to check his Hessian Eegiments, in their pursuit of the fugitive New Englanders, and to occupy …
But there is nothing inconsistent with either of these statements, if not distorted, in what we have written concerning the probable pre-occupation of Chatterton's-hill, by the Regiment of Massachusetts Militia commanded by Colonel John Ih ooks. It is very evident that wliafuver defensive works there may have been on the hill, at the time of the engagement, if there were any …
.\s the Delaware Regiment commanded by Colonel Haslet, was of the Brigade commanded by General Lord Stirling, and was ordered by General Washington " to take possession of the hill and the command of **the jMilitia Regiment there posted ; which was done,'* of which there has been no question ; and since the Brigade which was conmianded by General McDougal subsequently moved up …
3 " Colonel Kali . . . took possession of it. with great alacrity, to " the approbation of Lieutenant-general Heister, who wasacquainted with " this movement by Sir William Ei-skine," the (Quartermaster-general of the British .\rmy. -- (General Howe to Lord George Gerniaine, "New-York, " 30 November, 1776.") It will be seen, from that paragraph, that the action of Colonel …
But the bright designs of God, concerning America, were widely different from those of men ; the future of those thirteen new-born members of the community of nations, in His purposes, was not dependent on the result of an assault on the improvised lines of defense, on the high grounds, in the vicinity of the AVhite Plains ; and the powerful arm which was already uplifted and …
♦ Colonel Robert H. Harrison to the President of the Congress, " White- " Plains, '29 October, 1776." 6 Speech of General Howe before a Commiilee of the House of Commons, April 29, 1779-- Almon's Parliamentari/ Register, Fifth Session, Fourteenth Parliament, xii., 324 ; Narrative of Lieutenuntrgeneral Sir Willi<im Hoive, 6. 6 General Howe to Lord George Germaine, "New-York …
The lorce.on the summit of Chatterton's-hill, which had thus, insensibly, arrested the progress of the Royal Army, in its movement against the Right and Center of the American lines, was, of course, that of whom we have already made mention -- the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Brooks and Haslet, the lirigade commanded by General McDougal not having reached the …
On the left of the Marylanders, was posted the Delaware Regiment, proud of its name of " The Blue Hen's Chickens," whom Colonel Haslet commanded : the remainder of General McDougal's Brigade, composed of the First Regiment of the New York Line, formerly commanded by Colonel McDougal, at that time, by one of its Captains, whose name was not recorded ; the Third Regiment of the …
'Colonel Hatlet to General Cee$ar Rodney, "November 12, 1776;" Captiiiii Hull's unpublished Memoir of hie ReroliUionnry Serricef, quoted in CampbeH's Reroluliouary Serrici-t and Oicil Life of General William Hull, by his daughter, 54, 55 ; etc. < Colonel Carrington, {Rattles of the Ameiican Revolution, 240,) was at «ome pains to introduce Colonel Mon-is Graham, of the New York …
The cannonade of the little party, on Chatterton'shill,- was continued by the Hessian Artillerists, without cessation, while the General Officers, it is said," assembled in Council, without having dismounted ; and it is probable that the noisy demonstration, so very characteristic of Germans, in their use of gunjiowdcr, was continued, with unabated ardor, until the movement of …
No one has pretended that the Aclj\itant-geneval of the Army was on Chatterton's-hill, on that eventful Jlonday ; but he must have been there, if Colonel Carrington is correct, since it was he who accused Colonel Graliam of cowardice, on which Colonel Carrington has based his favor to the bashful New-Yorker. 6 It is a notable fact that, notwithstanding all which has been …
' There is, evidently, considerable exaggeration in what was written of that cannonade, by " a Gentleman in the Army," in his letter, already resorted to, dated "Camp near the Mills, about three miles North " OF THE White Plains, November 1, 1776 ; " but we make room for it. " The scene was grand and solemn ; all the adjacent hills smoked, as "though on fire, and bellowed and …
Hall's Tavern, at Hall's-corners, now known as Elmsford, on the road leailing from the White Plains to Tarrytown, told us, many years ago, that he heard that severe cannonade, and saw the smoke occasioned by it, and very clearly remembered It ; and, as may be reasonably supposed, under such circumstances, he regarded it as something more than ordinarily terrible. What we have …
With that purpose in view, the main body of the Royal Army was ordered to rest on its arms, on the Plain, within a mile, and in open sight, from the American lines ; orders were issued for a Battalion of Hessians to pass over the Bronx-river,' supported by the Second Brigade of British troops, composed of the Fifth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-fifth, and Forty-ninth Regiments of …
Baucroft, who hasenjoyed unusual opportunities foracquiring information on the subject of the German mercenaries, has said, [Uistorij of the United Stales, original edition, ix.,181 ; centenary edition,T., 444,) that that forlorn-hope was composed of the Lossberg Battalion ; but if, as he has conceded ou another page, that Battalion was a portion of the Brigade commanded by …
That Battalion of Hessians who fonned the forlorn-hope continues to be, to us, a subject on which we need and seek for further information, especially since it was definitely and very reasonably stated in The ^MimaJ Register for 1776, (History of Europe, *178,) that it was one of the Battalions of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop ; in which The Bistorrj of the Wur in …
A bright autumnal "sun shed its full lustre on their polished arms; and " the rich array of dress and military equipage gave an " imposing grandeur to the scene, as they advanced, in " all the pomp and circumstances of War, to give us " battle;" ^ and, with the main bodies of thetwQ armies, each resting on its arms, anxious spectators of the scene,* the Battalion of Hessians …
It is probable that the little river, where the assaulting party attempted to pass it, was deeper than elsewhere, above or below that place, as it has been, during the entire period of our personal knowledge of the locality ; and the Hessian forlorn-hope, consequently, found "some difficulty in passing" the stream;* but it struggled successfully, and evidently reached the …
Concerning the same subject, General Heath, who was on the opposite extremity of the line of the main body, wrote, (Memoirs, 1$,) "The sun "shone bright ; their arms glittered; and, perhaps, troops were never " shown to more advantage, than these now appeared." * General Botce to Lord George Germaine, "New-Tork, 30 November, "1776;" [Hall s] History of the Civil War in …
It is very probable that it was that accidental separation of the Begiments composing the support of the Hessian forlorn-hope, and the consequent assault on the Americans in three distinct movements, which led Captain Hull, (in Campbell's Revolutionary Sen-ices and Civil Life of General William Hull, 55,) to suppose the assault had been originally ordered to be made, in that …
With the exception of a single man, who " was prevailed upon to tread out the blaze and col- " lect the shot," " all the Artillery-men fled," leaving Colonel Haslet and the field-piece entirely unsupported ; but it appears that some of these later fugitives returned ; nuide a couple of discharges ou the euemy; and then retired, "'with the field-piece," not to be seen again …
" marched down and cnissed the ford ; " Doctor .\ndrews, in his Hirlonj of the U'nr, (ii., lift,) stated the a.ssaullingpai ty ' marched down " to the ford, and crossed it;" (ieneral Heath, an eje-witneas of the ntovenient, stated, in his Mrmoim, (iKige 78,) that "a part of the left col- " nmn, composed of British and Hessians, forded the river," etc. ; Chief justice Marshall …
With the story of the bridge, other similarly gioiiudless stories for which that phantom bridge had afforded loundations, notw ithstanding the etTect w ith whii h they have been related by their iuveutor, also vanish as the reader will shortly s«'e. •.Mr. Irving, snliscpiently, explained to us, personally, how he had fallen into the error : and requested us to pay no respect …
I right of the American line, on the toj) of the hill, ^ when they faced to the left and, with the shivering llessiaus on their front, they climbed up the steep and rugged hill-side, in good order and with the greatest steadiness,* the fire of the Hessian Artillerists, on the opposite side of the river, at least that j)ortion of it which was directed against the American …
As we have already stateil, {ride page i'.V.), ante,) there are veiy grave doubts concerning Caiitaiu Hamilton's presence, with the Company, on Cliatterton's-hill, on the eventful day of the Battle ; and it is of ques- ! tionable |)ropriety, therefore, to identify him w ith the shortcomings of his command, so gmphically jiortrajed by Colonel Haslet, in his letter to General …
Generals Washington, Howe, Coruwallis, Robertson, and Heath, and : Captains Harris and Hall, all of whom witnessed the action and dej scribed it, and Gordon, Stcduiau, Jlarshall, and Sparks, all of them j standard historiau.s, whose ailvautages for aoiuiring accurate information were in nowise neglected, were uniformly and rigidly silent on the subject of the alleged services …
^Sauthier's Plan of the Operatiitns of the King's Army, etc. General Heath, an eye-witness, siiid, that, after they had "forded the "river," they "marched along, under the cover of the hill, until they "had gained sufficient gro\ind to the left of the Americans, when, by "facing to the left," etc.-- (.l/cmoirs, 78.) ^General Howe tn Jjord George (Sernitiine, *^ 'Sr.w'-YonK, 30 …
There was no Artillery to hurl destruction on either of the assailants: since, by that time, the Delaware Regiment, immediately on their left, was confronted by the Fifth and Forty-ninth Regiments, who had also crossed the river and were climbing the hill-side, "zealous to distinguish themselves," there was no support for the hard-pressed " Maccaronis " and their New York …
It is recorded that the Regiment of jNIilitia, commanded by Colonel Brooks, notwithstanding the shelter afforded by the stone wall, " fled in confusion, "without more than a random, scattering fire;"'' leaving the Marylanders and New-Yorkers, alone and unsu[)ported ; and it also recorded that these lastnamed Regiments advanced to the brow of the hill, meeting their assailants …
2 Wo have found no mention of the movement of the Regiment commanded by Colonel Kitzema for the support of tlio Regiments commanded by Colonel Brooks and Smallwood, on the riglit of the line ; but it is reasonable that support was needed, there; and there is sat isfactory evidence that Colonel Ritzema and his command icere realltj Iherr, during the action : we shall not stop …
Very closely after the Twenty-eighth and Thirty-fifth, the Fifth and Forty-ninth Regiments also lorded the Bronx ; and moved to the positions which had been assigned to them, respectively ; and climbed up the side of the hill ; ' and assaulted the position which was occupied by " The Blue Hen's Chickens "--the Regiment of Delaware troops, commanded by Colonel Haslet -- " …
"our men to give way." -- {Colonel lioherl H. Httrriaon to the Pre»idenl of Ihf Congress, " W'HiTE-Pi.AiNS, October 2!), 1770.") " After a very smart engagi'ment for fifteen or twenty minwies, they "obliged our men to give way." -- {Colonel Robrrt }{, Httrrifon to General Schuyler, "White Plains, November 1, 1776. ') "The Militia Regiment fled * * Colonel Smallwood, in a …
The four Regiments composing the Brigade commanded by (Jeneral Leslie, were soon followed, "with the " greatest alacrity and in the best order," through the river, at the lord, and up the Mill-lane, and up the eastern face of the hill, by the Chasseurs and by three, if not by, four, Regiments of Hessian Grenadiers, com[iosing the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop.' In front …
But the records indicate that all those of the two feeble Regiments who were present on the field, performed their duty satisfactorily to the Commander-in-chief;' and, we are t(d(l that, when an effort was made by the assailants to turn the left of the line, a detachment from Colonel Webb's Regiment, commanded by Captain William Hull, defeated the attempt, with spirit and …
As the fire of the Hessian Artillerists had been susiiended when the a^iailants had commenced to ascend the hill, it is verv evident that, wlu II Colonel Donop, the last to reach the ground, lussaulted the left of the .\nn rican line, there was no artillery on the hill, in front of him, mounletl and effective. ' General McDougal complained of Colonel Webb ; but, in General …
It is doubtful if any who ' were not too much disabled to be removed, were taken prisoners; all who were able to move off the hill, moved off, by the left flank, by way of the road which led from the Wiiite Plains to Dobbs's lerry" -- they moved sullenly, in a great body, neither run- I "ning nor observing the best order," " covered by apor- I tion of the Delaware Regiment …
■"The gaining of this important post took up a considerable lime, "which Wiis prolonged by the enemy's still supporting a broken ami "scattered engagement, in defence of the adjoining walls and hedges." [/.-nres .■"]--( '/'/('• AuHual Wijistrr for 177G, History of Kurope, *I7«.) Thf lIMorij of the War in .iiifrica, Kdit. Dublin, 177!), (i., lU.') ;) (iordon's Hvilorii of Ihr …
'*Oiir own knowledge of tbi' ground and its approaches enable<l us to make the statement which appears in the text ; and, by a reference to .4 Plan of the Oamtry from Frogs I'oint to Croton liirt-r, the ri*ader may see the evidence of the accuracy of that statement. I" Ij-Uer from the While Vlitins, dated October '28, 177G. at two o'clock, P.M., published in 7'he Pennsyhunia …
General Howe, in his despatch to Lord lieorge (iermaine, dated '• New - " York, 30 November, 1776," stated that, after the engagement, " the " Hessian (Jrenadiers," [those who had assaulted the l^ft of the Ami ricaus,] " were ordered forward, upon the heights, within cannon-sliot of the "entreuchiiients, the Bronx, from its winding course, being slill between HISTORY OF …
" them and the enemy's," [(fce Americriu's.] " riglit flank; the Second " Brigade of British," [thnse ir?io had asstiuUed thv fronts of the right and centre of the Americans,] "formed in tlie rear of the Hessian Grena- "diers; and the two Brigades of Hessians, on the left of the Second " Brigade, with their left upon the road leading from Tarrj-town to the "White Plains" …
The Regiments of whom we find mention, as we have already stated, were those conmianded, respectively, by Colonels Silliman, Seldeu, Sage, and Douglass (the latter commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Arnold,) all belonging to the Brigade commanded by General Wadsworth ; the Regiment commanded by Colonel Chester, of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Sargent ; the Regiments …
ive Officers and Privates. ' The strength of all the force which was directed against that feeble body of men cannot be definitely ascertained, since the Hessian Artillerists, on the eastern bank of the river, whose fire was, certainly, to some extent, effective, were clearly as much a portion of that antagonistic force as those who crossed the river and assaulted the position …
' 2 ,-.43 (Colonel lialdwin's Lieut. -Col. Ely's • 2- ('olonel liolnian's . '* r-39 Total 29(1 November 3. Regiments. Com. Officers. Non-com. Off. 1 Fit for Duty. c a it Xl Sick, absent. On Command. £ c _i Total, Offl's and men. (loloncl .''illiman's . . . 2(- Colonel Seidell's. . , . Colonel Douglass's. . . ' 1 Colonel Chester's . . . ■m 52(1 Colonel Baldwin's . . . Colonel …
It will be seen that five hundred and sixty Officers, Staff, non-commis- .Moned Officers and Musicians, and two thousand and seventy-si.x Privates, present and fit for duty, survived the hazards of the engagement, and had returned to the Camp, five days after the Battle ; and the reader will readily perceive that our estimate of the effective strength of the detachment on the …
twoiity fiiist of Septeinlier, the fifth of October, ami on the third of November-- tlio last, five days after the Battle, -- were as follows; September 21. Re^iiiieiitn. £ y Staff. Non com. Officers. Fit for Duty. o it u (O Sick, absent. ■0 a a •d & .a ,3 1 Total, 1 Rank and File.' Colonel Smallwood's . . . Colonel Uitzenia's Late Col. McDoucars 1 First New-York Reg't. | …
It will be seen that three hundred and forty Officers, Staff, non-commissioned Othcers, and Jlusicians, and one thousand, four hundred, and forty-two Private^*, present and fit for duty, survived the Battle, and, five days after that event, were returned as effective. The losses which they ha«l sustained, in the action, and the probable alisence of some, on that occasion, must …
The loss sustained by the Americans was not as great as was, at first, supposed ' -- the return to the Camp of the greater number of the fugitive New Eiiglanders reduced the supj)0.sed losses from " between " four or five hundred in killed, wounded, and misa- " ing," which was the first estimate, to twenty-two killed, twenty-four wounded, and one missing, in the detachment …
1 General Howe was silent concerning the iiunuM'ical strengtli of the force which he had thus employed ; and none of the British authorities were any more coniinuuicative. Stediiian, however, {Hislonj of the American War, i., 215,) clearly intimated that tiic force which was required to take and occupy Chatterton's-hill, when diverted for that purpose, so greatly weakened the …
Harrison, the Secretary of General Washington, to the President of the Congress, dated " White- " Pl.vi.vs, 29 October, 1770," with General Washington's letter to the same, dated " White-Plains, 0 November, 1770," in the latter of which he Sitid, "I am happy to inform yon, that, in the engagement on Mon- '• day se'nniglit, 1 have reason to believe our loss was, by no means, so …
vates, missing' -- among those who were killed were Captains Bracco and Scott, of Colonel Smallwood's Regiment; and, among those who were wounded, were Colonel Smallwood and Lieutenants Goldsmith and Waters, of the same Regiment. ^ General Howe reported to the Home Government, evidently including all who were captured in Westch ester-county, that one Captain, two Lieutenants …
Mi'DongarsI First New- York V Resj't J ■2 Total, as far as reported • •■5 Doctor Pine, in bis letter to .lames Tilghman, dated "Cami'.*t thi: " White-Pi.ains, November 7, 1770," Said, " the number of killed and "wounded, us the report is, in the Camp, amounts only to about ninety ; " but from the wounded 1 saw, myself, in the hospital and adjacent " houses, there must, at …
■•In General Leslie's Return, the killed were stated to have been only twenty-two Rank and File. In General Leslie's Return, no mention wa-s made of a Field-officer of the Fifth Regiment having been wounded. In General Leslie's Return of (tjlieers wounded, Captain Mafisey's name is amon^ those of the Lieutenants, although the tabular statement returns him !\s a Captain, in …
As far as our knowledge of it extends, history is wholly silent, concerning the influences which controlled General Washington and concerning the objects which he had in view, when he determined to occui)y Chatterton's-hill, with so large a projjortion of his already feeble and uncertain Army, including three of the best, if not the best three, of his Regiments;" and …
It could hardly be considered, therefore, with any degree of propriety, as anything else than a detached and indei)endent position, formmisHioned and Xon-evnuuisKioned ({[Heerf, Rank and File, Kdled, Wuuuded, and MinrtuKj, etc., appendeil to his despatch to Lord George Germaine, ilated "New-York, 3 December, 1776." We have compared it with the Return of the Killed and Wounded …
We have no means for ascertaining their exact losses, on the twenty-eighth of October. 11 We are not insensible tliat Stedman, in his History of the American War, (i., 214,) said "the reason of their " [the Americans,] "occupying " this posture," [on Chatterton's-hill,] " is inexplicable, unless it be that " they could not be contained within the works of their Camp;" but the …
But (reneral Washington had evidently planned better than he knew ; and, in the proviilence of (Jod, sonic results which were more beneficial to the Americans than any which he had conceived and ho[)ed for, were niupiestionably derived from thai seemingly unpromising experiment of occupying and holding tiiat exceedingly exposed position, on the western bank of the Bronx; among …
All these, among other not much lessimportant results, although they were probably hidden from General ^\'ashington, when he devised and ordered the movement, were, unquestionably, among the residts, in America, of that " inexplicable " occupation of Chatterton's-hill, on the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, ITTli: with the results, in Europe, of that occupation, we …
I., No. 26, I'oKTSMorTIl, Tuesday, November T.', 1771; ; Geiieriil (irder of the Armij, in the case of ('olouel Webb, '• HKAn-gi'Ain'Kits, Wiin K-I'i.AiNS, October 2'.l, 1770;" Lieutenant entotn l Tihjhmnn's letter to iVillium l>Mr, dated " IlEAD-yUAItTBKs, WiiriE- " I'l.Ai.vs, October 29, 177G ; " the same to his fiilher, dated "WiilTE- " Plains, October :!1, 17711;" the …
Harrison's teller to Gorernnr Trninbull, dalefl " White-Plains, "November (;, 1770;'' Colonel Haslel's letter to General Ciesar Hotlneij, dated November 12, 1770 ;'' Dnelor Pine's tetter to James Til(/hnian, dated "Camp at the White-Plains, November 7, 177'j;" General Howe's (lenpaleh to h>ril Geortje Germaine, fiiiteil " New-Yokk, November "30, 1770;" the Ij'tter of William …
Sir William Howe, on a iiamphlet entitled Letters to a Sableman ; .\lmon's Parliamentary Register, Volumes -XL, XII., and XIII.; The Annual Register for 1776 ; The History of Ihe War in .Imeriea, Edit., Piiblin ; 17'<9; [llall'sj History of Ihe Civil War in .\merica ; Essois hisbo-- ignes et politiqnes sttr la li' volntiioi de I' .Xmeriqne Seplentrixmale, par IVI. Hil liard …
Bronx ; and that it had been halted, within a mile of the American lines, to enable a heavy detaehment of both British and Hessian troops to dispossess a body of American troops who had occupied Chatterton'shili, and who appeared to menace the left flank and rear of the Left, in its proposed movement against the American lines.' The result of that assault on Chatterton's-hill …
We have been told that the advancing ctdnmii w;is fired <nul :*evciitJt-sir ; ( 'ainiilieH's Jifrahtlionai-t/ Scri'U'ea tnid Cirit Life of Generiil William Hull; H hitimn'e Historical ColleclioH of the part miftlainetl by Cntwcclient, during llir War of the Iteeohition : I.ossing's I'ictorial Field-book of the Jterohition ; Hildroth's Histonj of the United Staten of America …
New-York : 1807 ; Di-akc's Life and Coi-rcsjwndenee of Henrij Knox, Major-general in the Ileeolutionanj Anny ; .Tones's HistA>rtj of Sew York during the flevohdionarij War, and de Lancet's SoleA on that work ; Bancroft's i/istoci/ <// (Ac United Stales, hoi\\ the original and the centenary editions ; Bolton's History of Westehester-eounty, both editions ; Tarbox's Life of …
led by a detachment of about twenty Light Dragoons, capering and brandishing their sabres, who leaped the fence of a wheat-field, situated at the foot of the hill on which the Regiment commanded by Colonel Malcolm had been jjosted." The horsemen evidently supposed the hill was unoccupied; and, it is probable, they expected to turn the flank of the American lines, and to secure …
It is undoubtedly true that the delay which was \iroduced by the halt of the Royal Army, ou the Plain, was the salvation of the American Army, within the lines; since it afforded time for strengthening the works beliind which the latter was, then, posted, and for preparing it for falling back, soon afterwards, and occupying another position, which would be more defensible and …
^In the Jtetnrn of the Killed, Wounded, and Missing^ of the Hoyal .{riiiii, appended to General Howe's desi>atch to Lord George Germaine, dated "Nf.w-Yobk, 3 December, 1776," it was stated that the only one of either of the two Kegiinents of the Light Dragoons then in America, who was killed, from the nineteenth to the twenty-eighth of October, inclusive, was one Kauk and …
The stony soil prevented the ditch from being made of any troublesome depth or the parapet of a troublesome height : the latter was not fraised : only where it was least needed -- probably because the construction of it, elsewhere, had been interfered with -- was there the slightest appearance of an abatis.* There was little foundation, therefore, for General Howe's …
During Tuesday, the twenty-ninth of October, as we have seen, the Royal Army, "with very little al- "teration"in its position, encamped on the Plain, and awaited the arrival of reinforcements ; ^ and, notwithstanding the loss of Chatterton's-hill, in the opinion of some of the American Officers,* had made I lo this description of the character of the American defenses, we have …
We are not insensible that Bancroft, (nislonj of the United Stales, original edition, ix., 180 ; the same, centenary edition, v., 444,) has so framed bis sentence that his readers must suppose the abatis was us extended as the "lines of entrenchments ;" but tlie feebleness of the Army and the scarcity of teams could not have securetl so great a work, in so short a lime …