Fordham Manor 349 



ready for use. The heavy guns which were mounted upon it 

 were brought up from New York. On November sixteenth, 

 the attack upon Fort Washington was begun by Number 

 Eight, which protected the landing of the British troops upon 

 the Dyckman meadows and made the post at Laurel Hill 

 untenable by the Americans. The fort had been hastily 

 constructed, but after the fall of Fort Washington it was 

 strengthened and maintained as an alarm post throughout 

 the war. Heath says in his Memoirs: "The Enemy had a 

 redoubt on the east side of Harlem creek, nearly opposite the 

 fort on Laurel Hill, and under the fire of its cannon for the 

 security of their advanced troops on the Morrisania side." 

 Later he writes: "On the 20th of October, 1782, the enemy 

 were demolishing their works at Number 8, Morrisania." It 

 will thus be seen that the British maintained a garrison at 

 Number Eight for about three years longer than they did at 

 the other posts in the neighborhood. 



The Archer house was in the possession of Samuel Archer, 

 a descendant of Benjamin, thirty-five years ago. He then 

 sold it and the adjacent tract; and for many years, the 

 house was unused except as a tool-house. It finally fell 

 to pieces about 1890. The picture shown was taken in 

 1889, and the author is indebted for it, as well as for the ac- 

 count of its position and later history, to the late G. L. Dash- 

 wood, Esq., of Morris Heights. It is probable that the 

 pontoon bridge maintained by the British throughout the war 

 for communication with Manhattan, and which was destroyed 

 in one of Hull's raids, was located here, connecting the shore 

 under Number Eight with that part of the meadows under 

 Laurel Hill which is locally known as Huckleberry Island. 



Burnside Avenue winds its way down the steep hill towards 

 the Harlem into Cedar Avenue, a continuation of Sedgwick 



