April, 1775, to September, 1776 131 



the obstructions in the river between Forts Washington and 

 Lee, much to the chagrin of Washington and his engineers. 

 Generals Heath and George Clinton witnessed from Tippett's 

 Hill the daring attempt of the fire-ships to destroy the vessels. 



A few days later, a French engineer, Monsieur Martin, was 

 assigned by Washington to complete the works, and Clinton's 

 brigade was ordered into camp. The regiment of Colonel 

 Thomas took camp south of Fort Independence, that of Colo- 

 nel Graham about half a mile south, and those of Colonels 

 Paulding and Nicholas, at Fordham and the base of Tetard's 

 Hill, while Colonel Swartwout occupied Tippett's Hill and 

 threw up the redoubts already described. r 



On the twenty-seventh of August, the Battle of Long Island 

 occurred; and the Provincial Congress, then sitting at Harlem, 

 became alarmed for the safety of the city of New York and 

 ordered its records removed to the camp at Kingsbridge, 

 whence they were later taken to White Plains and elsewhere as 

 the seat of the provincial government shifted from place to 

 place during the ensuing six years. Heath gathered all the 

 boats he could find along the two rivers for the transportation 

 of Washington's army across the East River from its dangerous 

 position at Brooklyn. 



Early in the morning of the twenty-seventh, while the battle 



was raging on Long Island, two ships and a brig came to 



anchor a little above Frog Point [Throgg's Neck]. Colonel 



Graham's regiment was ordered immediately to the spot by 



General Heath, to prevent the British from landing to plunder 



and burn. Before the regiment arrived, several barges from 



the ships, full of armed men, landed on City Island and killed 



■ The reader must not confuse the Fordham of to-day, a station on the 

 Harlem Railroad, with the Fordham of colonial times, which, as has 

 already been explained in Chapter III., was established by John Archer, 

 in 1668, at a site near the "wading place." 



