RETREAT FROM NEW YORK ISLAND.
The enemy had now possession of Long Island. British and Hessian
troops garrisoned the works at Brooklyn, or were distributed at
Bushwick, Newtown, Hell Gate and Flushing. Admiral Howe came up with
the main body of the fleet, and anchored close to Governor's Island,
within cannon shot of the city.
"Our situation is truly distressing," writes Washington to the
President of Congress, on the 2d of September. "The check our
detachment sustained on the 27th ultimo, has dispirited too great a
proportion of our troops, and filled their minds with apprehension and
despair. The militia, instead of calling forth their utmost efforts to
a brave and manly opposition in order to repair our losses, are
dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return. Great numbers of them
have gone off; in some instances, almost by whole regiments, by half
ones, and by companies, at a time.... With the deepest concern, I am
obliged to confess my want of confidence in the generality of the
troops.... Our number of men at present fit for duty is under twenty
thousand. I have ordered General Mercer to send the men intended for
the flying camp to this place, about a thousand in number, and to try
with the militia, if practicable, to make a diversion upon Staten
Island. Till of late, I had no doubt in my own mind of defending this
place; nor should I have yet, if the men would do their duty, but this
I despair of. If we should be obliged to abandon the town, ought it to
stand as winter quarters for the enemy? They would derive great
conveniences from it, on the one hand, and much property would be
destroyed on the other. It is an important question, but will admit of
but little time for deliberation. At present I daresay the enemy mean
to preserve it if they can. If Congress, therefore, should resolve
upon the destruction of it, the resolution should be a profound
secret, as the knowledge will make a capital change in their plans."
On the night of Monday (Sept. 2d) a forty gun ship, taking advantage
of a favorable wind and tide, passed between Governor's Island and
Long Island, swept unharmed by the batteries which opened upon her,
and anchored in Turtle Bay, above the city. In the morning, Washington
despatched Major Crane of the artillery, with two twelve pounders and
a howitzer to annoy her from the New York shore. They hulled her
several times, and obliged her to take shelter behind Blackwell's
Island. Several other ships-of-war, with transports and store-ships
had made their appearance in the upper part of the Sound, having gone
round Long Island.
As the city might speedily be attacked, Washington caused all the sick
and wounded to be conveyed to Orangetown, in the Jerseys, and such
military stores and baggage as were not immediately needed, to be
removed, as fast as conveyances could be procured, to a post partially
fortified at Dobbs' Ferry, on the eastern bank of the Hudson, about
twenty-two miles above the city.
The thousand men ordered from the flying camp were furnished by
General Mercer. They were Maryland troops under Colonels Griffith and
Richardson, and were a seasonable addition to the effective forces;
but the ammunition carried off by the disbanding militia was a serious
loss at this critical juncture.
A work had been commenced on the Jersey shore, opposite Fort
Washington, to aid in protecting Putnam's chevaux-de-frise which had
sunk between them. This work had received the name of Fort
Constitution (a name already borne by one of the forts in the
Highlands). Troops were drawn from the flying camp to make a strong
encampment in the vicinity of the fort, with an able officer to
command it and a skilful engineer to strengthen the works. It was
hoped, by the co-operation of these opposite forts and the
chevaux-de-frise, to command the Hudson, and prevent the passing and
repassing of hostile ships.
The British, in the meantime, forbore to press further hostilities.
Lord Howe was really desirous of a peaceful adjustment of the strife
between the colonies and the mother country, and supposed this a
propitious moment for a new attempt at pacification. He accordingly
sent off General Sullivan on parole, charged with an overture to
Congress. In this he declared himself empowered and disposed to
compromise the dispute between Great Britain and America, on the most
favorable terms, and though he could not treat with Congress as a
legally organized body, he was desirous of a conference with some of
its members. These, for the time, he should consider only as private
gentlemen, but if in the conference any probable scheme of
accommodation should be agreed upon, the authority of Congress would
afterwards be acknowledged to render the compact complete.
The message caused some embarrassment in Congress. To accede to the
interview might seem to waive the question of independence; to decline
it was to shut the door on all hope of conciliation, and might
alienate the co-operation of some worthy whigs who still clung to that
hope. After much debate, Congress, on the 5th September, replied that,
being the representatives of the free and independent States of
America, they could not send any members to confer with his lordship
in their private characters, but that, ever desirous of establishing
peace on reasonable terms, they would send a committee of their body
to ascertain what authority he had to treat with persons authorized by
Congress, and what propositions he had to offer. A committee was
chosen on the 6th of September, composed of John Adams, Edward
Rutledge, and Doctor Franklin.
The proposed conference was to take place on the 11th, at a house on
Staten Island, opposite to Amboy; at which latter place the veteran
Mercer was stationed with his flying camp. At Amboy, the committee
found Lord Howe's barge waiting to receive them. The admiral met them
on their landing, and conducted them through his guards to his house.
On opening the conference, his lordship again intimated that he could
not treat with them as a committee of Congress, but only confer with
them as private gentlemen of influence in the colonies, on the means
of restoring peace between the two countries. The commissioners
replied that as their business was to hear, he might consider them in
what light he pleased; but that they should consider themselves in no
other character than that in which they were placed by order of
Congress. Lord Howe then entered into a discourse of considerable
length, but made no explicit proposition of peace, nor promise of
redress of grievances, excepting on condition that the colonies should
return to their allegiance. This, the commissioners replied, was not
now to be expected. Their repeated humble petitions to the king and
parliament having been treated with contempt, and answered by
additional injuries, and war having been declared against them, the
colonies had declared their independence, and it was not in the power
of Congress to agree for them that they should return to their former
dependent state. His lordship expressed his sorrow that no
accommodation was likely to take place; and the conference broke up.
The result of this conference had a beneficial effect. It showed that
his lordship had no power but what was given by the act of Parliament;
and put an end to the popular notion that he was vested with secret
powers to negotiate an adjustment of grievances.
Since the retreat from Brooklyn, Washington had narrowly watched the
movements of the enemy to discover their further plans. Their whole
force, excepting about four thousand men, had been transferred from
Staten to Long Island. A great part was encamped on the peninsula
between Newtown Inlet and Flushing Bay. A battery had been thrown up
near the extremity of the peninsula, to check an American battery at
Horen's Hook opposite, and to command the mouth of Harlem River.
Troops were subsequently stationed on the islands about Hell Gate. "It
is evident," writes Washington, "the enemy mean to enclose us on the
island of New York, by taking post in our rear, while the shipping
secures the front, and thus, by cutting off our communication with the
country, oblige us to fight them on their own terms, or surrender at
discretion."
The question was, how could their plans be most successfully opposed?
On every side, he saw a choice of difficulties; every measure was to
be formed with some apprehension that all the troops would not do
their duty. In a council of war, held on the 7th of September, the
question was discussed, whether the city should be defended or
evacuated. All admitted that it would not be tenable, should it be
cannonaded and bombarded. Several of the council, among whom was
General Putnam, were for a total and immediate removal from the city;
urging that one part of the army might be cut off before the other
could support it; the extremities being at least sixteen miles apart,
and the whole, when collected, being inferior to the enemy. By
removing, they would deprive the enemy of the advantage of their
ships; they would keep them at bay; put nothing at hazard; keep the
army together to be recruited another year, and preserve the unspent
stores and the heavy artillery. Washington himself inclined to this
opinion. Others, however, were unwilling to abandon a place which had
been fortified with great cost and labor, and seemed defensible, and
which, by some, had been considered the key to the northern country.
After much discussion a middle course was adopted. Putnam, with five
thousand men, was to be stationed in the city. Heath, with nine
thousand, was to keep guard on the upper part of the Island, and
oppose any attempt of the enemy to land. His troops, among whom were
Magaw's, Shee's, Hand's, and Miles's Pennsylvanian battalions, and
Haslet's Delaware regiment, were posted about King's Bridge and its
vicinity.
The third division, composed principally of militia, was under the
command of Generals Greene and Spencer, the former of whom, however,
was still unwell. It was stationed about the centre of the island,
chiefly along Turtle Bay and Kip's Bay, where strong works had been
thrown up, to guard against any landing of troops from the ships or
from the encampments on Long Island. It was also to hold itself ready
to support either of the other divisions. Washington himself had his
head-quarters at a short distance from the city. A resolution of
Congress, passed the 10th of September, left the occupation or
abandonment of the city entirely at Washington's discretion.
Convinced of the propriety of evacuation, Washington prepared for it
by ordering the removal of all stores, excepting such as were
indispensable for the subsistence of the troops while they remained. A
letter from a Rhode Island officer, on a visit to New York, gives an
idea of its agitations. "On the 13th of September, just after dinner,
three frigates and a forty-gun ship sailed up the East River with a
gentle breeze, toward Hell Gate, and kept up an incessant fire,
assisted by the cannon at Governor's Island."
On the 14th, Washington's baggage was removed to King's Bridge,
whither head-quarters were to be transferred the same evening; it
being clear that the enemy were preparing to encompass him on the
island. About sunset of the same day, six more ships, two of them
men-of-war, passed up the Sound and joined those above. Within half an
hour came expresses spurring to head-quarters, one from Mifflin at
King's Bridge, the other from Colonel Sargent at Horen's Hook. Three
or four thousand of the enemy were crossing at Hell Gate to the
islands at the mouth of Harlem River, where numbers were already
encamped. An immediate landing at Harlem, or Morrisania, was
apprehended. Washington was instantly in the saddle, spurring to
Harlem Heights. The night, however, passed away quietly. In the
morning the enemy commenced operations. Three ships of war stood up
the Hudson, and anchored opposite Bloomingdale, a few miles above the
city, and put a stop to the removal by water of stores and provisions
to Dobbs' Ferry. About eleven o'clock, the ships in the East River
commenced a heavy cannonade upon the breastworks between Turtle Bay
and the city. At the same time two divisions of the troops encamped on
Long Island, one British, under Sir Henry Clinton, the other Hessian,
under Colonel Donop, emerged in boats from the deep, woody recesses of
Newtown Inlet, and under cover of the fire from the ships, began to
land at two points between Turtle and Kip's Bays. The breastworks were
manned by militia who had recently served at Brooklyn. Disheartened by
their late defeat, they fled at the first advance of the enemy. Two
brigades of Putnam's Connecticut troops, which had been sent that
morning to support them, caught the panic, and regardless of the
commands and entreaties of their officers, joined in the general
scamper.
At this moment Washington, who had mounted his horse at the first
sound of the cannonade, came galloping to the scene of confusion;
riding in among the fugitives, he endeavored to rally and restore them
to order. All in vain. At the first appearance of sixty or seventy
redcoats, they broke again without firing a shot, and fled in headlong
terror. Losing all self-command at the sight of such dastardly
conduct, he dashed his hat upon the ground in a transport of rage.
"Are these the men," exclaimed he, "with whom I am to defend America!"
In a paroxysm of passion and despair he snapped his pistols at some of
them, threatened others with his sword, and was so heedless of his own
danger that he might have fallen into the hands of the enemy, who were
not eighty yards distant, had not an aide-de-camp seized the bridle of
his horse, and absolutely hurried him away.
It was one of the rare moments of his life, when the vehement element
of his nature was stirred up from its deep recesses. He soon recovered
his self-possession, and took measures against the general peril. The
enemy might land another force about Hell Gate, seize upon Harlem
Heights, the strong central portion of the island, cut off all retreat
of the lower divisions, and effectually sever his army. In all haste,
therefore, he sent off an express to the forces encamped above,
directing them to secure that position immediately; while another
express to Putnam, ordered an immediate retreat from the city to those
heights.
It was indeed a perilous moment. Had the enemy followed up their
advantage, and seized upon the heights, before thus occupied, or had
they extended themselves across the island, from the place where they
had effected a landing, the result might have been most disastrous to
the Americans. Fortunately, they contented themselves for the present
with sending a strong detachment down the road along the East River,
leading to the city, while the main body, British and Hessians, rested
on their arms.
In the meantime, Putnam, on receiving Washington's express, called in
his pickets and guards, and abandoned the city in all haste, leaving
behind him a large quantity of provisions and military stores, and
most of the heavy cannon. To avoid the enemy he took the Bloomingdale
road, though this exposed him to be raked by the enemy's ships
anchored in the Hudson. It was a forced march, on a sultry day, under
a burning sun and amid clouds of dust. His army was encumbered with
women and children, and all kinds of baggage. Many were overcome by
fatigue and thirst, some perished by hastily drinking cold water; but
Putnam rode backward and forward, hurrying every one on. All the loss
sustained by him in his perilous retreat, was fifteen killed, and
about three hundred taken prisoners.
The fortified camp, where the main body of the army was now assembled,
was upon that neck of land several miles long, and for the most part
not above a mile wide, which forms the upper part of Manhattan or New
York Island. It forms a chain of rocky heights, and is separated from
the mainland by Harlem River, a narrow strait, extending from Hell
Gate on the Sound, to Spyt den Duivel, a creek or inlet of the Hudson.
Fort Washington occupied the crest of one of the rocky heights above
mentioned, overlooking the Hudson, and about two miles north of it was
King's Bridge, crossing Spyt den Duivel Creek, and forming at that
time the only pass from Manhattan Island to the mainland. About a mile
and a half south of the fort, a double row of lines extended across
the neck from Harlem River to the Hudson. They faced south towards New
York, were about a quarter of a mile apart, and were defended by
batteries.
There were strong advanced posts about two miles south of the outer
line; one on the left of Harlem, commanded by General Spencer, the
other on the right, at what was called McGowan's Pass, commanded by
General Putnam. About a mile and a half beyond these posts the British
lines extended across the island from Horen's Hook to the Hudson,
being a continuous encampment, two miles in length, with both flanks
covered by shipping. An open plain intervened between the hostile
camps.
While thus posted, Washington was incessantly occupied in fortifying
the approaches to his camp by redoubts, _abatis_, and deep
intrenchments. In the course of his rounds of inspection, he was
struck with the skill and science displayed in the construction of
some of the works, which were thrown up under the direction of a
youthful captain of artillery. It proved to be the same young officer,
Alexander Hamilton, whom Greene had recommended to his notice. After
some conversation with him, Washington invited him to his marquee, and
thus commenced that intercourse which has indissolubly linked their
memories together.
On the morning of the 16th, word was brought to head-quarters that the
enemy were advancing in three large columns. There had been so many
false reports, that Reed, the adjutant-general, obtained leave to
sally out and ascertain the truth. Washington himself soon mounted his
horse and rode towards the advanced posts. On arriving there he heard
a brisk firing. It was kept up for a time with great spirit. There was
evidently a sharp conflict. At length Reed came galloping back with
information. A strong detachment of the enemy had attacked the most
advanced post, which was situated on a hill skirted by a wood. It had
been bravely defended by Lieutenant-colonel Knowlton. After
skirmishing for a time, the party had been overpowered by numbers and
driven in, and the outpost was taken possession of by the enemy.
Reed urged that troops should be sent to support the brave fellows who
had behaved so well. While he was talking with Washington, "the
enemy," he says, "appeared in open view, and sounded their bugles in
the most insulting manner, as usual after a fox-chase. I never," adds
he, "felt such a sensation before; it seemed to crown our disgrace."
Washington, too, was stung by the taunting note of derision; it
recalled the easy triumph of the enemy at Kip's Bay. Resolved that
something should be done to wipe out that disgrace, and rouse the
spirits of the army, he ordered out three companies from Colonel
Weedon's regiment just arrived from Virginia, and sent them under
Major Leitch, to join Knowlton's rangers. The troops thus united were
to get in the rear of the enemy, while a feigned attack was made upon
them in front.
The plan was partially successful. As the force advanced to make the
false attack, the enemy ran down the hill, and took what they
considered an advantageous position behind some fences and bushes
which skirted it. A firing commenced between them and the advancing
party, but at too great distance to do much harm on either side. In
the meantime, Knowlton and Leitch, ignorant of this change in the
enemy's position, having made a circuit, came upon them in flank
instead of in rear. They were sharply received. A vivid contest took
place, in which Connecticut vied with Virginia in bravery. In a little
while Major Leitch received three bullets in his side, and was borne
off the field. Shortly afterward, a wound in the head from a musket
ball, brought Knowlton to the ground. Colonel Reed placed him on his
horse, and conveyed him to a distant redoubt. The men, undismayed by
the fall of their leaders, fought with unflinching resolution under
the command of their captains. The enemy were reinforced by a
battalion of Hessians and a company of chasseurs. Washington likewise
sent reinforcements of New England and Maryland troops. The action
waxed hotter and hotter; the enemy were driven from the wood into the
plain, and pushed for some distance; the Americans were pursuing them
with ardor, when Washington, having effected the object of this casual
encounter, and being unwilling to risk a general action, ordered a
retreat to be sounded.
Colonel Knowlton did not long survive the action. "When gasping in the
agonies of death," says Colonel Reed, "all his inquiry was whether he
had driven in the enemy." The brave Leitch died of his wounds on the
1st of October.
In the dead of the night, on the 20th September, a great light was
beheld by the picket guards, looming up from behind the hills in the
direction of the city. It continued throughout the night, and was at
times so strong that the heavens in that direction appeared to them,
they said, as if in flames. At daybreak huge columns of smoke were
still rising. It was evident there had been a great conflagration in
New York. In the course of the morning Captain Montresor, aide-de-camp
to General Howe, came out with a flag, bearing a letter to Washington
on the subject of an exchange of prisoners. According to Montresor's
account a great part of the city had been burnt down, and as the night
was extremely windy, the whole might have been so, but for the
exertions of the officers and men of the British army. The enemy were
now bringing up their heavy cannon, preparatory to an attack upon the
American camp by the troops and by the ships. What was the state of
Washington's army? The terms of engagement of many of his men would
soon be at an end, most of them would terminate with the year, nor did
Congress hold out offers to encourage re-enlistments. "We are now, as
it were, upon the eve of another dissolution of the army," writes he,
"and unless some speedy and effectual measures are adopted by
Congress, our cause will be lost." Under these gloomy apprehensions,
he borrowed, as he said, "a few moments from the hours allotted to
sleep," and on the night of the 24th of September, penned an admirable
letter to the President of Congress, setting forth the total
inefficiency of the existing military system, the total
insubordination, waste, confusion, and discontent produced by it among
the men, and the harassing cares and vexations to which it subjected
the commanders. Nor did he content himself with complaining, but, in
his full, clear, and sagacious manner, pointed out the remedies. To
the achievements of his indefatigable pen, we may trace the most
fortunate turns in the current of our revolutionary affairs. In the
present instance his representations, illustrated by sad experience,
produced at length a reorganization of the army, and the establishment
of it on a permanent footing. It was decreed that eighty-eight
battalions should be furnished in quotas, by the different States,
according to their abilities. The pay of the officers was raised. The
troops which engaged to serve throughout the war were to receive a
bounty of twenty dollars and one hundred acres of land, besides a
yearly suit of clothes while in service. Those who enlisted but for
three years received no bounty in land. The bounty to officers was on
a higher ratio. The States were to send commissioners to the army, to
arrange with the commander-in-chief as to the appointment of officers
in their quotas; but, as they might occasionally be slow in complying
with this regulation, Washington was empowered to fill up all
vacancies.
All this was a great relief to his mind. He was gratified, also, by
effecting, after a long correspondence with the British commander, an
exchange of prisoners, in which those captured in Canada were
included. Among those restored to the service were Lord Stirling and
Captain Daniel Morgan. The latter, in reward of his good conduct in
the expedition with Arnold, and of "his intrepid behavior in the
assault upon Quebec where the brave Montgomery fell," was recommended
to Congress by Washington for the command of a rifle regiment about to
be raised. We shall see how eminently he proved himself worthy of this
recommendation.
Nothing perplexed Washington at this juncture more than the conduct of
the enemy. He beheld before him a hostile army, armed and equipped at
all points, superior in numbers, thoroughly disciplined, flushed with
success, and abounding in the means of pushing a vigorous campaign,
yet suffering day after day to elapse unimproved. What could be the
reason of this supineness on the part of Sir William Howe? He must
know the depressed and disorganized state of the American camp; the
absolute chaos that reigned there. Did he meditate an irruption into
the Jerseys? A movement towards Philadelphia? Did he intend to detach
a part of his forces for a winter's campaign against the South?
In this uncertainty, Washington wrote to General Mercer, of the flying
camp, to keep a vigilant watch from the Jersey shore on the movements
of the enemy, by sea and land, and to station videttes on the
Neversink Heights, to give immediate intelligence should any of the
British fleet put to sea. At the same time he himself practised
unceasing vigilance, visiting the different parts of his camp on
horseback. Occasionally he crossed over to Fort Constitution, on the
Jersey shore, of which General Greene had charge, and, accompanied by
him, extended his reconnoitrings down to Paulus Hook, to observe what
was going on in the city and among the enemy's ships. Greene had
recently been promoted to the rank of major-general, and now had
command of all the troops in the Jerseys. He had liberty to shift his
quarters to Baskingridge or Bergen, as circumstances might require;
but was enjoined to keep up a communication with the main army, east
of the Hudson, so as to secure a retreat in case of necessity.
The security of the Hudson was at this time an object of great
solicitude with Congress, and much reliance was placed on Putnam's
obstructions at Fort Washington. Four galleys, mounted with heavy guns
and swivels, were stationed at the chevaux-de-frise, and two new ships
were at hand, which, filled with stones, were to be sunk where they
would block up the channel. A sloop was also at anchor, having on
board a machine, invented by a Mr. Bushnell, for submarine explosion,
with which to blow up the men-of-war; a favorite scheme with General
Putnam. The obstructions were so commanded by batteries on each shore,
that it was thought no hostile ship would be able to pass. On the 9th
of October, however, the Roebuck and Phoenix, each of forty-four guns,
and the Tartar of twenty guns, which had been lying for some time
opposite Bloomingdale, got under way with their three tenders, at
eight 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, Phoenix and Tartar broke through the vaunted barriers as
through a cobweb. Seven batteries kept up a constant fire upon them,
yet a gentleman was observed walking the deck of the second ship as
coolly as if nothing were the matter. The hostile ships kept on their
course, the American vessels scudding before them. The schooner was
overhauled and captured; a well-aimed shot sent the sloop and
Bushnell's submarine engine to the bottom of the river. The two new
ships would have taken refuge in Spyt den Duivel Creek, but fearing
there might not be water enough, they kept on and drove ashore at
Philips' Mills at Yonkers. Two of the galleys got into a place of
safety, where they were protected from the shore; the other two
trusted to outsail their pursuers. The breeze freshened, and the
frigates gained on them fast; at eleven o'clock began to fire on them
with their bow-chasers, and at twelve o'clock overreached them, which
caused them to bear in shore; at half-past one the galleys ran aground
just above Dobbs' Ferry, and lay exposed to a shower of grape-shot.
The crews, without stopping to burn or bilge them, swam on shore, and
the enemy took possession of the two galleys.
One express after another brought Washington word of these
occurrences. First, he sent off a party of rifle and artillery men,
with two twelve-pounders, to secure the new ships which had run
aground at Yonkers. Next, he ordered Colonel Sargent to march up along
the eastern shore with five hundred infantry, a troop of light-horse,
and a detachment of artillery, to prevent the landing of the enemy.
Before the troops arrived at Dobbs' Ferry, the ships' boats had
plundered a store there and set it on fire.
To prevent, if possible, the men-of-war already up the river from
coming down, or others from below joining them, Washington gave orders
to complete the obstructions. Two hulks which lay in Spyt den Duivel
Creek, were hastily ballasted by men from General Heath's division,
and men were sent up to get off the ships which had run aground at
Philips' Mills, that they might be brought down and sunk immediately.
[This new irruption of hostile ships caused great excitement and
alarm. It was rumored that bodies of disaffected citizens were
organizing in order to assist the enemy, and it was feared that these
ships were carrying arms and ammunition for these bodies of men, and
also concealed troops to co-operate with them in overpowering the
well-affected, and in seizing upon such passes as would cut off the
communication between the army and the upper counties.]
Fugitive river crafts carried the news up to the Highlands that the
frigates were already before Tarrytown in the Tappan Sea. Word was
instantly despatched to Peter R. Livingston, president of the
Provincial Congress, and startled that deliberative body, which was
then seated at Fishkill, just above the Highlands. Washington ordered
up part of the militia from Massachusetts, under General Lincoln. As a
further precaution, an express was sent off to Colonel Tash, who, with
a regiment of New Hampshire militia, was on his way from Hartford to
the camp, ordering him to repair with all possible dispatch to
Fishkill, and there hold himself at the disposition of the committee
of safety.
James Clinton, also, who had charge of the posts in the Highlands, was
put on the alert. That trusty officer was now a brigadier-general,
having been promoted by Congress, on the 8th of August. He was charged
to have all boats passing up and down the river rigidly searched, and
the passengers examined. Beside the usual sentries, a barge, well
manned, was to patrol the river opposite to each fort every night; all
barges, row-boats, and other small craft, between the forts in the
Highlands and the army, were to be secured in a place of safety, to
prevent their falling into the enemy's hands and giving intelligence.
Moreover, a French engineer was sent up to aid in strengthening and
securing the passes.