112 HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF WESTCHESTER. 



to the Colonel, dated Light Camp, 16th September, 1780, and the fol- 

 lowing from the Commander-in-Chief to Col. Van Cortlandt : 



Sir : — You will take charge of the clothing, the boats, entrenching tools, and 

 such other stores as shall be committed to your care by the quart er-master- 

 general ; with these you are to proceed (Sir in the order they are mentioned) to 

 Springfield by the way of Sufferan, Pompton, the Two Bridges, and Chatham. 

 When you arrive at Springfield you will put yourself under the order of Major 

 Gen. Lincoln, or any other your superior officers commanding at that place. You 

 will also, if occasion should require it, alter the above route agreeably to orders 

 from either Major General Lincoln or the quarter-master-general. 



You will be particularly careful to collect all your men that are in proper con- 

 dition to march, and will use your best endeavors to prevent desertion. 



Given at King's Bridge this 25th day of August, 1781. 



Geo. Washington. 



At the battle of Yorktown, in Virginia, Col. Van Cortlandt appears to 

 have served on picket guard : for his conduct on this occasion he was 

 advanced to the rank of Brigadier General. To his care the commander- 

 in-chief entrusted 700 British and Hessian prisoners of war, which 

 he conducted in safety to Fredericksburg. During the spring "of 

 1782 his camp on the Flat Fields was visited by General and Lady 

 Washington. a 



Upon the suspension of hostilities Gen. Van Cortlandt retired to the 

 Manor House at Croton ; he was afterwards chosen one of the commis- 

 sioners of forfeitures, and represented for sixteen years this district in 

 Congress, declining re-election in 181 1. Gen. Van Cortlandt accom- 

 panied the Marquis de La Fayette in his tour of the United States in 

 1824. The general died at his house on the Croton November 21st, 

 1831, and with him expired the entail. By his will he bequeathed to 

 his brother, Gen. Pierre Van Cortlandt, 600 acres ; to his three sisters, 

 Anne Van Rensselaer, Cornelia Beekman, and Catharine Van Wyck, 

 200 acres each ; and his western lands to his nephew, the late Philip G. 

 Van Wyck of Sing Sing. The latter gentleman afterwards inherited his 

 mother's portion consisting of 200 acres on north lot No. 1, south of 

 the Croton, together with 112 acres north of that river. 



Peekskill, the principal town in Cortlandt town, is beautifully situated 

 at one of the most picturesque points on the Hudson and east shore of 

 the Bay of the same name. This place commands every advantage of 

 river navigation, besides an extensive inland trade, of which it forms the 

 depot. 



By the Mohegan Indians the place was called Sachpes, a term de- 



a Extracts from Gen. Philip van Cortlandt's diary in the possession of his nephew, the late 

 Philip G. van Wyck, Sing Sing. 



