| Citation |
PG-P.779.024
16 Jun 1779:23, 31, 32 (2557)
Poughkeepsie, June 7. Extract of a letter. The subdaction
of the North-River is the capital object of the Tory monarch
and ministry of Great Britain, but to accomplish this, the
reduction of our garrison at West-Point is absolutely
necessary; accordingly his Excellency the renowned General
Sir Henry Clinton set out lately from New-York, in company
with a sufficient council of English and Scotch nobility and
gentry, with an army composed of all the British, foreign,
and American Tories he could possibly muster. A small
redoubt of three guns, called La Fayette, was constructed on
the bank of the river at Verplanck's Point, which being
planned with a view to chastise some pirates in the
neighbourhood, as well as to divert his Excellency on his
passage to West Point, should he come that way; it has, to
the joy of all good men, answered both those valuable
purposes; for King's Ferry, near it, has received many
advantages by it--and the admirable entertainment it had
last week afforded his said Excellency, his army and navy,
was beyond description, because the exhibition was as
unexpected to him as it was elegant. In short, the music
was so grand as to invite the whole country, who flocked
from many miles distance to the dance--and by the time that
a sufficient number arrived to honour his Excellency with
the Grand Ball at West-Point, and a country dance in the
neighbourhood, he unfortunately got so tired and sulky, and
distressed with so much new company, which he was sorry that
he had invited, that it is supposed he has, by the advice of
his said council, resolved shortly to repair to his lodgings
in New-York.
Another correspondent writes, "that had Sir Henry
conceived it possible for a little fort with 3 guns only to
oblige him to make such a noise on the North-River, before
he attacked the capital works at West-Point, he should have
slipt by it in the night; for that he now sees himself
surrounded with at least three times the number of Freedom's
Sons that he would have had to encounter with, had he not
delayed to take the redoubt.
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