. The works of Washington Irving. ation or abandonmentof the city entirely at Washingtons the whole of his officers, too, in asecond council of war, retracted their formeropinion, and determined that the removal ofhis army was not only prudent, but absolutelynecessary. Three members of the covmcil,however, Generals Spencer, Heath, and GeorgeClinton, tenaciously held to the former of the propriety of evacuation,Washington prepared for it by ordering theremoval of all stores, excepting such as wereindispensable for the subsistence of the troopswhile they rema
. The works of Washington Irving. ation or abandonmentof the city entirely at Washingtons the whole of his officers, too, in asecond council of war, retracted their formeropinion, and determined that the removal ofhis army was not only prudent, but absolutelynecessary. Three members of the covmcil,however, Generals Spencer, Heath, and GeorgeClinton, tenaciously held to the former of the propriety of evacuation,Washington prepared for it by ordering theremoval of all stores, excepting such as wereindispensable for the subsistence of the troopswhile they remained. A letter from a RhodeIsland officer, on a visit to New York, gives anidea of its agitations. On the 13th of Sep-tember, just after dinner, three frigates and aforty-gun ship sailed up the East River with agentle breeze, toward Hell Gate, and kept upan incessant fire, assisted by the cannon atGovernors Island. The batteries of the cityreturned the ships the like salutation. Threemen agape, idle spectators, had the misfortune. ^^ of being killed by one cannon ball. One shotstruck within six feet of General Washington,as he was on horseback, riding into the fort. * On the 14th, Washingtons baggage wasremoved to Kings Bridge, whither headquar-ters were to be transferred the same evening, itbeing clear that the enemy were preparing toencompass him on the island. It is now atrial of skill whether they will or not, writesColonel Reed, and every night we lie downwith the most anxious fears for the fate ofto-morrow. t About sunset of the same day, six moreships, two of them men-of-war, passed up theSound and joined those above. Within halfan hour came expresses spurring to head-quarters, one from Mifflin at ELings Bridge,the other from Colonel Sargent at HorensHook. Three or four thousand of the enemywere crossing at Hell Gate to the islands atthe mouth of Harlem River, where numberswere already encamped. An immediate land-ing at Harlem, or Morrisania, was w
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