General Sullivan had established, as well as the guards at some
of the passes established by General Greene, were withdrawn." The fact
that all the passes were well guarded and a special patrol sent out,
is a complete answer to this assertion, so far as the night of the
26th is concerned. In this light the general conclusion arrived at by
Mr. Dawson, that "General Putnam paid no attention to the orders of
General Washington," cannot be sustained.

With regard to General Sullivan, it is but just to give his own
explanation. A year after the battle, he wrote: "I know it has been
generally reported that I commanded on Long Island when the actions
happened there. This is by no means true; _General Putnam_ had taken
the command from me four days before the action. Lord Stirling
commanded the main body without the lines; I was to have command under
General Putnam within the lines. I was very uneasy about a road
through which I had often foretold the enemy would come, but could not
persuade others to be of my opinion. I went to the Hill near Flatbush
to reconnoitre the enemy, and, with a piquet of four hundred men, was
surrounded by the enemy, who had advanced by the very road I had
foretold, and which I had paid horsemen fifty dollars for patrolling
by night, while I had the command, as I had no foot for the purpose,
for which I was never reimbursed, as it was supposed unnecessary." In
another letter he adds: "I was so persuaded of the enemy's coming the
[Jamaica] route, that I went to examine, and was surrounded by the
British army, and after a long and severe engagement was made
prisoner." These letters were written when Sullivan was restless under
charges brought against him in connection with the defeat at
Brandywine--charges which were properly dropped, however--and are not
conclusive as to the Long Island affair. His statements are no doubt
strictly true, but they in no way affect the main point, namely, did
we or did we not have a patrol out on the Jamaica Road _on the night
of the 26th_? We have seen that there was such a patrol, and probably
the best that had yet been sent out, and sent out, according to
Lieutenant Van Wagenen, by General Sullivan himself.

There are but few references to the question of responsibility in
contemporary letters and documents. Gordon blames Sullivan as being
over-confident. Miles and Brodhead leave us to infer that this general
had much to do with the plan of action, and must be held a