ain camps being extended along the hills west of the
Bronx River. Both Valentine's Hill and Miles Square were occupied and
fortified.

On the 18th, Howe left Throg's Neck and transferred his army further
eastward to Pell's Point below New Rochelle. The Light Infantry
advanced from the coast, but were faced by Glover's brigade from
behind stone walls, and made to suffer some loss.[210] Glover and his
men were complimented for their conduct both by Washington and Lee.
The enemy again delayed in the vicinity of East Chester and New
Rochelle until the 22d.

[Footnote 210: In this skirmish Captain Evelyn, the British officer
who captured the patrol of American officers on Long Island, was
mortally wounded, and died soon after, much regretted. He is supposed
to have been buried in New York.]

Wishing exact information of the position of the enemy and of the
topography of the country, the commander-in-chief, on the morning of
the 20th, requested Colonel Reed and Colonel Putnam, his engineer, to
undertake a reconnoissance in person. Setting out from King's Bridge
with a foot-guard of twenty men, these officers proceeded to the
heights at East Chester, where they saw some of the enemy near the
church, but could obtain no intelligence. The houses in the vicinity
were deserted. From this point Reed returned to attend to his office
duties, while Putnam, disguising his appearance as an officer by
taking out his cockade, loping his hat, and concealing his sword and
pistols under his loose coat, continued on alone in the direction of
White Plains. Learning from a woman at a house that the British were
at New Rochelle, he passed on to within three or four miles of White
Plains, where he met some "friends to the cause" and ascertained the
general situation. "I found," he writes, "that the main body of the
British lay near New Rochelle, from thence to White Plains about nine
miles, good roads and in general level open country, that at White
Plains was a large quantity of stores, with only about three hundred
militia to guard them, that the British had a detachment at Mamaroneck
only six miles from White Plains, and from White Plains only five
miles to the North River, where lay five or six of the enemies ships
and sloops, tenders, etc. Having made these discoveries, I set out on
my return." Reporting this information to the commander-in-chief about
nine o'clock in the evening, Colonel Putnam retired to "refresh"
himself and horse, on