62 



THE BOROUGH OF THE BRONX 



Two eagles surmounted the posts of an old gateway which, 

 according to Bolton's "History of Westchester," were spoils taken 

 from a Spanish privateer, and presented to the house by a British 

 Admiral. The Eagles have disappeared since the sale to the City. 

 General Washington occupied this house for a brief time in 1781, 

 prior to his retreat to Yorktown, and at the close of the war in 

 1783 spent a night there before crossing King's Bridge on his 

 triumphal entry into the City of New York. The house is still in 

 an excellent state of preservation, and is used as a repository of 



Van Cortlandt Mills 



Colonial and Revolutionary relics, in the care of the Colonial 

 Dames. It is furnished, as in the old historic days, with high 

 canopied bedsteads and other quaint household articles. In the 

 kitchen may still be seen the old fashioned utensils and the large 

 fireplace. It was in the capacious rooms of this grand, old resi- 

 dence that Washington, Rochambeau, the Duke of Clarence (later 

 King William the Fourth) , and other celebrities were entertained. 

 During the Revolution this structure was the headquarters for the 

 Hessian Jaegers. Captain Rowe of the Princhbank Jaegers, having 

 been mortally wounded by the American water guard stationed on 



