in that direction;
moving by the way of Morristown.

An expedition up the Hudson was really the object of Sir Henry
Clinton's movements, and for this he was strengthened by the return of
Sir George Collier with his marauding ships and forces from Virginia.
On the 30th of May, Sir Henry set out on his second grand cruise up
the Hudson, with an armament of about seventy sail, great and small,
and one hundred and fifty flat-boats. Admiral Sir George Collier
commanded the armament, and there was a land force of about five
thousand men under General Vaughan.

The first aim of Sir Henry was to get possession of Stony and
Verplanck's Points; his former expedition had acquainted him with the
importance of this pass of the river. On the morning of the 31st, the
forces were landed in two divisions, the largest under General
Vaughan, on the east side of the river, about seven or eight miles
below Verplanck's Point; the other, commanded by Sir Henry in person,
landed in Haverstraw Bay, about three miles below Stony Point. There
were but about thirty men in the unfinished fort; they abandoned it on
the approach of the enemy, and retreated into the Highlands, having
first set fire to the block-house. The British took quiet possession
of the fort in the evening; dragged up cannon and mortars in the
night, and at daybreak opened a furious fire upon Fort Lafayette. It
was cannonaded at the same time by the armed vessels, and a
demonstration was made on it by the division under General Vaughan.
Thus surrounded, the little garrison of seventy men was forced to
surrender, with no other stipulation than safety to their persons and
to the property they had in the fort. Major Andre was aide-de-camp to
Sir Henry, and signed the articles of capitulation.

Washington presumed that the main object of Sir Henry was to get
possession of West Point, the guardian fortress of the river, and that
the capture of Stony and Verplanck's Points were preparatory steps. He
would fain have dislodged him from these posts, but deferring any
attempt on them for the present, he took measures for the protection
of West Point. Leaving General Putnam and the main body of the army at
Smith's Clove, a mountain pass in the rear of Haverstraw, he removed
his head-quarters to New Windsor, to be near West Point in case of
need, and to press the completion of its works. General McDougall was
transferred to the command of the Point. Three brigades were stationed
at diffe