ampment
and works on the most advantageous ground; to have a brigadier of the
day constantly upon the lines that he might be on the spot to command;
to have field-officers go the rounds and report the situation of the
guards; to have the guards particularly instructed in their duty; and
to compel all the men on duty to remain at their camps or quarters and
be ready to turn out at a moment's warning. The wood next to Red Hook
bordering Gowanus Creek was to be well attended to, and the woods
elsewhere secured by abattis, if necessary, to make the enemy's
progress as difficult as possible. The militia, or troops which were
least disciplined and had seen the least service, were to man the
interior lines, while the best men were "at all hazards" to prevent
the enemy's passing the woods and approaching the works. He
disapproved also of the unmeaning picket firing and the burning of
houses, and warned the general finally that when the attack came it
was certain to be "sudden and violent."[120]

[Footnote 120: Mr. Davis, in his Life of Aaron Burr, who was Putnam's
aid at this time, states that after crossing to Long Island and making
the round of the outposts, he (Burr) urged his general to beat up the
enemy's camp, but that Putnam declined, on the ground that his orders
required him to remain strictly on the defensive.]

For brigadier for the day, General Lord Stirling was assigned to duty
on this date.[121]

[Footnote 121: Sullivan's Orders, August 25th. _Document_ 2.]

In the skirmishing that continued from the 24th to the 26th the
Americans showed skill and bravery, although at times indulging in
desultory firing. The riflemen, supported by field-pieces, made
occasioned dashes upon the enemy and picked off their men with almost
no loss to themselves. Among the troops on picket near Flatbush, on
the 25th, were Colonel Silliman and his Connecticut battalion; and
from the colonel, who wrote from there, on a drum-head, to his wife,
we get a glimpse of the situation at that point during his tour of
duty. "I am now posted," he says, "within about half a mile from the
Regulars with my Regt. under the covert of a woody hill to stop their
passage into the country. There are a number of Regts. posted all
around the town within about the same distance and for the same
purpose. The Regulars keep up an almost constant fire from their
Cannon and Mortars at some or other of us, but neither shott nor shell
has come near my Regt. as ye