November, 1776, to September, 1783 153 



army with beef, his troops eame to be known as the Cowboys, 

 a nickname that soon spread to all the British troops and 

 loyalists engaged in the Neutral Ground, but more especially to 

 the Tories. The American marauders, in their turn, were 

 called Skinners, and they were even more blood-thirsty, thiev- 

 ing, and treacherous than the British; in fact, they robbed 

 entirely for their own benefit, using patriotism as a cloak to 

 cover their infamous deeds. If the irregulars of either side 

 were captured, the nearest tree usually sealed their fate. The 

 author has run across several "Cowboy trees" within the 

 Borough; but as they were within the British lines, he is 

 inclined to believe the fruit they once bore was Skinner and 

 not Cowboy. « 



In addition to the battalions already mentioned, there was 

 stationed, until Lord Cornwallis began his southern campaign, 

 a body of dragoons or light horse under command of Lieu- 

 tenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a name well hated even by 

 the average school child of to-day, on account of his sobriquet 

 of "Bloody" Tarleton. The other commands were usually 

 composed of German mercenaries, whose willingness to come 

 to America had been increased by the promise held out to them 

 by the British authorities that they could add to their pay by 

 plundering the inhabitants; which they proceeded to do with 

 strict impartiality to loyalist and patriot alike. The popular 

 notion is that they could do nothing else but plunder ; but one 

 has only to visit Chatterton's Hill at White Plains, where they 

 led the "forlorn hope," or the steep sides of Fort Tryon at 

 Inwood, to learn the fact that they could fight as well as plun- 

 der. The German yagers, whom Lossing calls "hired assas- 

 sins," were notorious for their plundering. The remainder 



1 The Spy, by J. Fenimore Cooper, gives the best account of the Skinners 

 and the Neutral Ground that can be found anywhere. 



