USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. I > Part 114
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General Huice to Lord George Germaine, "NEW-YORK, 30 November, "1776." The .Inanal Register for 1776, History of Europe, 178 * ; The History of the War in America, Edit. Dublin : 1779, 195 ; etc.
It is possible that one of the Regiments of that Brigade had been do- tailed, to act as the forlorn-hope, in the assault, as we have already stated. 2 Vide page +11, ante.
3 lieluras of the Strength of the Regimeuts enguged, etc. (Vido page 445, post.)
4 Captain Ilull's unpublished Memoir, quoted in Campbell's Revolu- tionary Services and Ciril Life of General William Hull, 54.
As the fire of the llessian Artillerists had been suspended when the assailants had commenced to ascend the hill, it is very evident that, when Colonel Donop, the last to reach the ground, assaulted the left of the American line, there was no artillery on the hill, in front of him, mounted and effective.
5 General McDongal complained of Colonel Webb; but, in Geuerul Or. ders, General Washington stated, "The representation made of Colonel ; " Webb's Regiment, yesterday, by General MeDougal, appearing to be "a mistake, and that they kept the post assigned them, notwithstanding " a severe cannonade, the General takes the first opportunity to make it "kuown, to prevent any unfavorable impression."-(General Orders, " HEADQUARTERS, WHITE-I'LAINS, October 29, 1776.")
6 ('aptain llull's nupublished Memoir, quoted in Campbell's Revoln- tionary Services und Cirit Life of General William Hall, 55; Governor
On every part of the ground, except those portions which had been occupied by the Company of New- York Artillery and the Regiment of Massachusetts Militia, the battle had been resolutely sustained ; 7 and the assailants, in more than one instance, had been compelled to fall back ; & but the opposing forces were so nnequal in their strength that a successful occupation of the hill could not have been expected, by any one-indeed, the fact that the entire detach- ment was not cut off from the main body of the Army, and captured by the enemy, reflects the highest honor on those who occupied the hill, and fills one with wonder and admiration. It is doubtful if any who were not too inneh 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 White Plains to Dobbs's ferry 9- they moved sullenly, 10 " in a great body, neither run- "ning nor observing the best order," " covered by a por- tion of the Delaware Regiment 12-and, having crossed the bridge over which the roadway passed the Bronx, the site of that which now affords a passage over the river, near the present railroad-station at the White Plains, they fell in on the rear of General Beall's Maryland Flying Camp, which General Putnam was leading for their support, on the hill ; 13 and joined the main body of the Army, within the lines.
After he had gained possession of the hill, the ene- my made no attempt whatever to pursue the retreating Americans; but formed and dressed his line, 14 and
Brooks to the President of the Court Martial for the trial of figueral Hull, " BosTox, February 4, 1814."
" " The gaining of this important post took up a considerable time, "which was prolonged by the enemy's still supporting a broken and "scattered cugagement, in defence of the adjoining walls and hedges." [frures !]-(The . taunul Register for 1776, History of Europe, $178.)
The History of the War in America, Edit. Dublin, 1779, (i., 195;) Gor- don's History of the American Recolution, (ii., 341 ;) aud others, also, bear testimony to the gallantvy of the American troops.
· . "our Troops made as good a Stand as could be expected and " did not quit the Ground, till they came to push their Bayonets."- Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman to his Father, " WHITE PLAINS, 31st October, "1776."
8 Letter to a Gentlemen in .Aunapolis, dated " WHITE-PLAINS, October 29, "1776," published in The Pruusylvania Journal, No. 1771, PHILADEL- PIA, Wednesday, November 13, 1776.
9 Our own knowledge of the ground and its approaches enabled us to make thestatement which appears in the text ; and, by a reference to A Plan of the Country from Frog's Point to Croton Rirer, the render may see the evidence of the accuracy of that statement.
10 Letter from the White Plains, dated October 28, 1776, at two o'clock, P.M., published in The Pennsylvania Evening Post, Vol. 11., No. 278, PHILADELPHIA, Thursday, October 31, 1776, and in The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1770, PHILADELPHIA, Wednesday, November 6, 1776.
11 Memoirs of Major-general Henth, 79.
See, also, William Harrison to the Maryland Council of Safety, "GEORGE- " TOWN, KENT-COUNTY, 28 November, 1776."
12 Colonel Husket to General Casar Rodwy, ' November 12."
13 Letter to a Gentleman in Annapolis, dated " WHITE-PLAINS, October 29 " 1776 ;" published in The Pransylvania Journal, No. 1771, PHILADEL- PHIA, Wednesday, November 13, 1776.
14 Memoirs of General Heath, 79.
General llowe, in his despatch to Lord George Germaine, dlated " NEW- " YORK, 30 November, 1776," stated that, after the engagement, "the "Hessian Grenadiers," [those who had assaulted the left of the Americans, ] " were ordered forward, upon the heights, within canyou-shot of the "entrenchments, the Broux, from its winding course, being still between
444
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
prepared his dinner, for the purpose of doing which he tore down and burned a barn which belonged to John Hunt, on property, on the western portion of the hill, which, in our younger days, belonged to his two sons, Thomas and Jacob Hunt. 1
The strength of the Americans, under General Spencer, who were engaged on the Plain; who were alarmed at either the Hessians or the Light Dragoons ; and who fled, over the river and far away, among the hills of Greenburgh, was, as we have already statcd, not far from twenty-five hundred effective Officers and Privates : 2 that of the Regiments who composed the force on the top of the hill, who defended tlie position, and who were really the heroes of the day, exclusive of the Company of Artillery, who rendered no effect- ive service, was not far from seventeen hundred effect-
"them and the enemy's." [the American's,] " right flank ; the Second " Brigade of British," [those who had assaulted the fronts of the right and centre of the Americans, ] "formed in the rear of the Hessian Grena- "diers ; and the two Brigades of Ilessians, on the left of the Second " Brigade, with their left upon the road leading from Tarrytown to the " White Plains "-that is to say, the entire force, on the western bank of the Bronx, was moved northward, until its left was ahove that old road, still continned, which extends from the bridge, near the railroad-station, westward, over Chatterton's-hill.
1 Information communicated to ns, personally, more than thirty years since, by the two gentlemen named, who, then, were our near neighbors and personal friends.
2 The Returns of the Killed, Wounded, and Missing, in each of the several Regiments who had formed that hashfnl detachment leave no room for donbt concerning the Regiments of whom it was really composed-indeed, there may have been others whose modesty forbade the making of any such Returns, and who have thereby escaped our notice.
The Regiments of whom we find mention, as we have already stated, were those commanded, respectively, by Colonels Silliman, Selden, Sage, and Douglass (the latter commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Arnokl,) all belonging to the Brigade commanded by General Wadsworth ; the Regi- ment commanded by Colonel Chester, of the Brigade commanded by Colonel Sargent ; the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Baldwin, Douglass, and Lieutenant colonel Ely, of the Brigade com- manded by General Saltonstall ; and the Regiments commanded, respec- tively, by Colonels Holman and Smith, of the Brigade commanded hy General Fellows-all of them New Englanders and some of them experts in running, as was shown at Kip's-hay, in the preceding Sep- tember.
The Returns of the strength of each of those several Regiments, on the twenty-first of September, on the fifth of October, and on the third of November, -the last, five days after the action,-were as follows :
September 21.
Regiments.
Com, Officers.
Staff.
Non-com. Off.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
Sick, absent.
On Command.
Furlonghed.
Rank aud File.
Colonel Silliman's
26
4
47
194
57
81
69
392
Colonel Selden's.
30
1
45
271
46 116
52
485
Colonel Sage's. .
33
4
44
217
54
142
65
487
Colonel Douglass's
32
4
47
262
104
38
149
1
554
Colonel Baldwin's
25
468
Colonel Douglass
Lt .- Col. Ely's
34
5
46
344
76
102
59+
Colonel Smith's
35
6
48
336
85
76
4G
543
ive Officers and Privates.1 The strength of all the force which was directed against that feeble body of men cannot be definitely ascertained, since the Hes- sian 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 or as those who charged on the right flank of the struggling Americans, and assisted in driving them from the hill. Besides those Hessian Artillerists, there were four Regiments of British troops, commanded by General Leslie; the Hessian Regiment, probably from Colonel Donop's command, who occupied the place of danger and honor, as the forlorn-hope; the three Regiments of Hessians, commanded by Colonel Rall ; and the four or five Regiments of Hessians,
October 5.
Regiments.
Com. Officers.
Non-com. Off.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
Sick, absent.
On Command.
Furloughed.
Rank and File.
Colonel Silliman's
24
2
47
152
83 105
49
389
Colonel Seklen's
30
4
45 240
73
107
73
476
Colonel Sage's.
32
1
45
162 194
155
62
. .
Colonel Donglass's
3
49
201
62
120
93
.
476 543
Colonel Baldwin's
28
37
234
122
34
74
464
Colonel Donglass's.
24
1
41
144
24
5
17
190
Lieut .- Col. Ely's
30
3
39
219
148
70
85
589
('olonel Smith's
5
48
327
90
18
539
Total.
290
39
443 2227
925
720
643
4 4423
November 3.
Regiments.
Com. Officers.
Non-com. Off.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
Sick, absent.
On Command.
Furloughed.
Rank aml File.
Offi's and men.
Colonel Silliman's .
14
20
140
18
160
58
376 418
Colonel Selden's.
15
2
271
224
42
142
69
477 521
Colonel Sage's .
15
46 170
72
185
51
478 541
Colonel Douglass's.
19
1
37 228
36 128
1
465 525
Colonel Chester's
==
4
25.
234
107
41
135
3
520 558
Colonel Baldwin's
27
3
44
288
50
32
5G
426 500
Colonel Douglass's.
21
4
35
56
41
25
22
1
145, 205
Lient .- Col. Ely's
29
3
38
119
63
57
18
247 317
Colonel Holman's
22
1
29
306
102
80
572 627
Colonel Smith's
13
F
3G
311
51
116
52
530 584
Total
184
33 343 2076
572 970 G13
5 4236 4796
1
It will be seen that five hundred and sixty Officers, Staff, non-commls- sioned Officers and Musicians, and two thousand and seventy-six Pri- vates, 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 onr estimate of the effective strength of the detachment on the occasion under consideration, is a reasonable one, sustained as it is by the contemporary statement of Lieutenant-colonel Tilghman, one of the Aides of General Washington, (Letter to his father, " WHITE-PLAINS, 31st October, 1776;") and by that of Brigade-major Tallmadge, of General Wadsworth's Brigade, himself a participant in the affair on the Plain and in the discreditable retreat, (Memoir of Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, prepared by himself, 13;) for both of which see pages 436, 437, ante.
1 The Returns of the strength of these several Regiments, on the
G
27
.
263
Colonel llolman's
34
5
47
262
123
23:
133
. .
.
·
.
.
Total.
494
Colonel Chester's
31
4.5
4
,
Total,
Total,
Total,
Colonel Chester's
225
147
19
72
Colonel Holman's
Total
Staff.
Staff.
445
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.
commanded by Colonel Donop, cach or all of whom could not have contained less than six hundred
twenty- first of September, the fifth of October, and on the third of November-tho lust, tive days after the Battle,-were as follows:
September 21.
Regiments.
Com. Officers.
--
Staff.
Non com.
Officers.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
Sick, absent.
On Command.
Furloughed.
Total,
| Rank and File.
Colonel Brooks's *
Colonel Smallwood's
41
5
48
427
39
994
840
Colonel Ritzema's.
26
3
33
265
GO
GG
4
417
Colunel Haslet's
32
41
-135
125
8
.
Late C'ol. Mc Dongal's
27
5
20
215
49
4-4
79
.
.
387
Colonel Webb's
13
2
25
219
89
38
192
540
Total.
1:37
20 167 1561
199
561
425 ₲
2752
October 5.
Regiments.
Com. Officers.
+
Colonel Small wood's.
131
5
49
3 .
190
191
71
774
Colonel Ritzema's.
18
3
28
217
34
57
6
386
Colonel llaslet's
27
34
385
149
569
Late Col. McDongal's
14
5
19
153
30
78
.
9
3
21
185
96
40
210
2
533
Total .
99 20
151 1262
36 TUA 460
8
2590
November 3.
Regiments.
Com. Officers.
30
5
50 340
81
46 .
19
486 571
Colonel Smallwood's
30
8
37
298
84
354
57
1
794
869
Colonel Ritzema's. .
21
4
27
198
12
G
61
10
342 394
Colonel Haslet's
13
3
21
273
2G
228
21
548 585
Late Col. McDongal's } 1Mt New- York Reg't. 25
21
5
19
142
22
1.3
1
254 299
Colonel Webb's.
16
3
191
73
208
9
527 573
Total.
131
28
181 1442 298
811
360
40 2951 3291
It will be seen that three hundred and forty Officers, Staff, non-con- missioned Officers, and Musicians, and one thousand, four hundred, and forty-two Privates, present and fit for duty, survived the Battle, and, five days after that event, were returned as effective. The losses which they had sustained, in the action, and the probable absence of some, on that occasion, must be taken into the account ; and we believe that the nnull- ber of Officers and Privates who were actually engaged was abont that which we have stated in the text.
Gordon, (History of the American Revolution, ii., 341,) reduced the num
* Not, then, in the service.
+ " General Lincoln's Militia frou Massachusetts, so scattered and " ignorant of the forms of Returns, that none can be got."
į In the original Returns, the total of Rank and File is stated at 836 : we have been unable to ascertain where the error in the details, is.
¿ In the original Returns, the total of Rank and File is stated at 314 : We have been unable to ascertain where the error in the details, is.
Officers and Privates, making an aggregate of about seven thousand, five hundred effective men. 1
The loss sustained by the Americans was not as great as was, at first, supposed2-the return to the Camp of the greater number of the fugitive New Eng- landers reduced the supposed losses from " between " four or five hundred iu killed, wounded, and miss- " ing," whieli was the first estimate, to twenty-two killed, twenty-four wounded, and one missing, in the detachment commanded by General Spencer ; 3 and, exelusive of the losses sustained by the Regiments commanded, respectively, by Colonels Haslet and Brooks, of which no Returns have been found, the loss of those who were on the top of the hill and who fought the battle, was two Captains, four Sergeants, one Corporal, and eighteen Privates, killed ; one Col- onel, three Lieutenants, one Ensign, four Sergeants, and forty-three Privates, wounded ; and sixteen Pri-
ber of those who remained, after the Militia had given way, to six hun- dred men; Chief-justice Marshall, (History of George Washington, ii., 502,) and Doctor Sparks, (Life of General Washington, 196,) each with the papers of General Washington before him, stated the forco under Gen- eral McDongal was "about sixteen hundred " men.
1 General Howe was silent concerning the numerical strength of the force which he had thus employed ; and none of the British anthori- ties were any more communicative. Stedman, however, (History of the American War, i., 215,) clearly intimated that the force which was re- quired to take and occupy Chatterton's-hill, when diverted for that purpose, so greatly weakened the Royal Army, then on the White Plains, that "it was obvious that the latter could no longer expediently "attempt anything against the enemy's" [the Americans'] " main " body."
We may be allowed to say, in this connection, that the practise of that period, iu making mention of the strength of detachments or of that of the Army itself, was to include only the Rank and File, excluding the Commissioned Officers, the Staff, and the non-commissioned Officers, all of them, to some extent, at least, effective fighting men.
2 Compare the letter from Colonel Robert H. Harrison, the Secretary of General Washington, to the President of the l'ongress, dated " WntrE- " PLAINS, 29 October, 1776," with General Washington's letter to the same, dated " WHITE-I'LAINS, 6 November, 1776," in the latter of which he said, "I am happy to inform yon, that, in the engagement on Mon- " day se'nnight, I have reason to believe onr loss was, by no means, so " considerable as was conjectured, at first."
See, also, Colonel Robert H. Harrison's letter to Governor Trumbull, " WHITE-PLAINS, November 6, 1776;" the same to Governor Cooke, " WHITE-PLAINS, November 6, 1776;" etc.
3 The following table will show the losses which were sustained by each of the several Regiments who composed that detachment :
Killed.
Wounded.
Missg.
Regiments.
Serg'td.
Corpl's,
Privates.
1 Captains.
[ First Lt.
Ensign.
Serg'ts.
Corp'1.
Privates.
Privates.
Colonel Silliman's
1
-
-
-
-
Colonel Selden's
Colonel Sage's .
Colonel Donglass's
Colonel ('hester's
1
Colonel Baldwin's
1
Lt .- col. Ely's
1
Colonel Holman's
1
8
Colonel Smith's
1
Total
3
1
18
1
111
117
1
.
.
. .
On Command.
Furlonghed.
Total,
Rank aud File.
Staff.
Non-com.
Officers.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
Sick, absent.
Sick, absent.
on Command.
Furloughed.
Rank und File.
Total, Officers and Privates.
Stuff.
Non.com.
Officers.
Fit for Duty.
Sick, present.
.
.
.
328
First New-York Reg't.
Colonel Webb's. .
Total,
Colonel Brooks's .
568
First New-York Reg't.
| Sec. Lt.
--
OH'=
Colonel Douglass's
..... .
Colonel Brooks's
446
HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.
vates, missing 1-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. 2 General Howe re- ported to the Home Government, evidently including all who were captured in Westchester-county, that one Captain, two Lieutenants, one Quarter-master, and thirty-five Privates were taken, "October 12 -- " White Plains ; "3 but we have no means for ascer- taining who of these were taken prisoners on the twenty-eighth of October. The loss sustained by the Second Brigade of British troops, commanded by Gen- eral Leslie, was Lieutenant-colonel Carr, Captains Deer- ing and Gore, Lieutenant Jocelyn, Ensign Eagle, on( Sergeant, and twenty-nine Rank and File,4 killed; Lieutenant-colonel Walcott,5 Captain Fitzgerald, Cap- tain-lieutenant Massey,6 Lieutenants Taylor, Banks, and Roberts, twelve Sergeants, and one hundred and two Rank and File, 7 wounded ; and two Rank and File, 8 missing. 9 The three Regiments composing the
1 The following table will show the losses which were sustained by each of the several Regiments who were posted on the hill.
Killed.
Wounded.
Missing.
Regiments.
Captains. .
Lieut.
| Ensign.
Serg'ts.
| Corporal.
| Privates.
Colonel.
| Captain.
| Lieut.
Ensign.
Sergt's.
| Corporals.
| Privates.
Officers.
Privates.
Colonel Brooks's$
Colonel Smallwood's .
-
6
Colonel Ritzema's .
IO
Colonel llaslet's *
Late Col. MeDougal's First New-York
1 -
4
Reg't.
Colonel Webb's
.
Total, as far as reported 2
1 18
1
3
1
4
43
16
Doctor Pine, in his letter to James Tilghman, dated "CAMY AT THE " WHITE-PLAINS, November 7, 1776," Said, " the number of killed and "wounded, as the report is, in the Camp, amounts only to about ninety ; " bnt from the wounded I saw, myself, m the hospital and adjacent " houses, there minst, at least, be an hundred and thirty wounded. The " number of killed I don't know."
2 Letter to a Gentleman in .Innapolis, dated " WHITE-PLAINS, October 2?, " 1776 ; " published in The Pennsylvania Journal, No. 1771, PHILADEL .- PmA, Wednesday, November 13, 1776, and in Force's American Archives, V., ii., 1284 ; Lieutenant-colonel Gist to the Maryland Council of Safety, " CAMP BEFORE THE WHITE-PLAINS, 2 November, 1776 ; " etc.
3 Return of Prisoners taken during the Campaign, 1776, signed by " Jos- " Loring, Commissary of Prisoners," appended to General Howe's de- spatch to Lord George Germaine, dated "NEW-YORK, 3 December, 1776."
4 In General Leslie's Return, the killed were stated to have been only twenty-two Rank and File.
5 In General Leslie's Return, no mention was made of a Field-officer of the Fifth Regiment having been wounded.
6 In General Leslie's Return of Officers wounded, Captain Massey's name is among those of the Lientenants, although the tabnlar statement re- turns him as a Captain, in which it agrees with General Howe's Report. He was a Captain-Lientenant.
7 In General Leslie's Return, the wounded were stated to have num- bered one hundred and twelve Rank and File.
8 In General Leslie's Return, no mention was made of any missing Rank and File.
9 In this statement, we have followed General Howe's Return of Com-
* No Returns from these Regiments have been found.
Brigade commanded by Colonel Rall sustained a loss of eight Rank and File, killed ; Lieutenant Muhlhau- sen, one Sergeant, and forty-four Rank and File, wounded; and one horse, killed. The Regiment of Chasseurs and the four Regiments of Grenadiers- one of them, probably, the half-drowned forlorn-hope -composing the Brigade commanded by Colonel Donop, sustained a loss of four Rank and File, killed ; Captain De Westerhagen, Lieutenant De Rau, and fourteen Rank and File, wounded ; and two Rank and File, missing. 10
As far as our knowledge of it extends, history is wholly silent, concerning the influences which con- trolled General Washington and concerning the ob- jects which he had in view, when he determined to occupy Chatterton's-hill, with so large a proportion of his already feeble and uncertain Army, including three of the best, if not the best thrce, of his Regi- ments ; 11 and, especially, at a later hour, when, at a critical moment and in the face of an overwhelming enemy, he determined, also, to strengthen the force whom he had already sent, and to hold the position, at all hazards, sending, for those purposes, another very strong detachment of those troops in whom he reposed his greatest confidencc, as soldiers, and whom he could ill-spare from the insufficiently manned lines which he, himself, was then occupying.
At best, Chatterton's-hill, at that time, was an iso- lated position ; beyond the American lines ; too dis- tant to be supported from the main body, in the pres- ence of an enemy occupying the Plains, unless in force and at great risk ; with no line of communica- tion with the main body, which was not commanded by the cncmy ; and with no opening for a retreat of the occupying force, in case of a disaster, unless to the westward, into the neighboring hills of Green- burgh, which were already occupied by the fugitive New Englanders whom General Spencer had at- tempted to command. It could hardly be considered, therefore, with any degree of propriety, as anything else than a detached and independent position, form-
missioned and Non-commissioned Officers, Rank and File, Killed, Wounded, und Missing, etc., appended to his despatch to Lord George Germaine, dated "NEW-YORK, 3 December, 1776." We have compared it with the Return of the Killed and Wounded of the Second Brigade, etc., made by General Leslie ; and find that, although the details of the classifications differ, the aggregate of the British loss is the same-one hundred and fifty-seven Officers and Men.
10 General Howe's Return of Commissioned and Non- commissioned Officers, Rank and File, Killed, Wounded, and Missing, appended to his despatch to Lord George Germaine, dated "NEW-YORK, 3 December, 1776."
It is proper for us to say, however, that that Return included all the losses sustained by the Regiments referred to, from the nineteenthi to the twenty-eighth of October, both these dates included ; and it is possi- ble, therefore, that some of the casualties named in the text were s18- tained elsewhere than on or near Chatterton's-hill. We have no means for ascertaining their exact losses, on the twenty-eighth of October.
11 We are not insensible that Stedman, in his History of the American H'ar, (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 reason assigned was too evidently ridiculous to be regarded with the slightest respect.
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447
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 1774-1783.
ing no portion of the American lines ; and nothing else than a supposition, on the part of General Wash- ington's advisers and on that of the General himself, that the continued oeeupation of it was absolutely es- sential to the safety of the main body, in the position which it then occupied, could possibly have led him to make such a costly and hazardous experiment, un- der the existing circumstances and in the immediate presence of such an overwhelming enemy, as the con- tinued occupation and defence of Chatterton's-hill. But General Washington had evidently planned bet- ter than he knew ; and, in the providence of God, some results which were more beneficial to the Americans than any which he had conecived and hoped for, were unquestionably derived from that seemingly unpromising experiment of ocenpying and holding that exceedingly exposed position, on the western bank of the Bronx ; among which results, in America, we may mention the effect of that occupa- tion, as an apparent menace against the left flank and rear of the Royal Army, in whatever movement that Army, under General Howe, should make against the American lines; the delay in that evidently projected movement of the Royal Army, to enable its command- ing General to remove what appeared to have been a dangerous element from Chatterton's-hill-a delay which enabled the Americans to strengthen their de- fensive works and to become better prepared for de- fending them, whenever the Royal Army should move against them ;- and the reduction of that great Army, which was, then, in front of the American lines, and ready to move against them, for the purpose of assault- ing the Americans who had occupied the hill as well for that of holding the hill, subsequently, which re- duction of the strength of his main body compelled General Howe to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. to abandon his intention to assault the works which sheltered the main body of the American Army, and, finally, to retire from Westchester-county-the first- mentioned of which consequences affording still further time and opportunities to General Washing- ton and his feeble command : the latter two affording to the Americans, everywhere, the eclat, as well as some of the advantages, of better generalship and of conse- quent success. All these, among other not much less- important results, although they were probably hid- den from General Washington, when he devised and ordered the movement, were, unquestionably, among the results, in America, of that " inexplicable " oceu- pation of Chatterton's-hill, on the morning of the twenty-eighth of October, 1776: with the results, in Europe, of that occupation, we have nothing to do, in this place.1
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