134 Th e Story of The Bronx 



it crossed the creek about midway between the King's bridge 

 and the Hudson, connecting Tippett's Neck and Cox's (or 

 Cock's) Hill. On the Headquarters map, already referred to, 

 it appears very curiously as the " King's bridge." The Ameri- 

 cans at once erected barracks, and brick and stone ovens were 

 built by the masons in the army. 



The different methods of working in the two armies are 

 shown by the fact that redoubts, barracks, ovens, etc. required 

 by the Americans were built by the soldiers themselves, with 

 slight additional expense to the government; while during the 

 British occupation of New York and its environs, under the 

 several British commanders, 750,000 pounds sterling were 

 spent for the same purposes. So tremendous was this expense 

 that its honesty was questioned by the government in England, 

 and it is supposed that Carleton had the Headquarters map 

 made in order to show where and how this large sum had been 

 expended. The American army was composed of farmers, 

 mechanics, and artisans of all kinds; the British, of soldiers, 

 whose duty it was to fight. 



The farmers in the neighborhood of the army at Kingsbridge 

 suffered from the depredations of the troops; and fences, 

 poultry, cattle, and crops disappeared for the use of the quarter- 

 master's department and for the commissariat. In fact, the 

 thieving propensities of the patriots were a source of continual 

 distress to the Commander-in-chief, whose orders against such 

 acts were "more honored in the breach than in the observ- 

 ance." 1 In a prosperous farming section such as this, there 

 should have been plenty of horses and oxen; yet, when the 



1 In the Journal of Lieut. -Col. Kemble, Sir William Howe's adjutant- 

 general during the Westchester campaign, we find that the British Com- 

 mander-in-chief had even greater trouble in dealing with the marauders 

 of his army, and especially with the licentious and thieving German 

 mercenaries. 



