rength to the army.

[Sidenote: Plans for defence.]

It being fully decided upon that New York should be held, two entirely
distinct sets of measures were found indispensable. First the city was
commanded by Brooklyn Heights, rising at short cannon-shot across the
East River. These heights were now being strongly fortified on the
water-side against the enemy's fleet, and on the land-side against a
possible attack by his land forces.[3]

[Sidenote: New York in 1776.]

The second measure looked to defending the city from an attack in the
rear. At this time New York City occupied only a very small section of
the southern part of the island which it has since outgrown. A few farms
and country seats stretched up beyond Harlem, but the major part of the
island was to the city below as the country to the town, retaining all
its natural features of hill and dale unimpaired. At this time, too, the
only exit from the island was by way of King's Bridge,[4] twelve miles
above the city, where the great roads to Albany and New England turned
off, the one to the north, the other to the east, making this passage
fully as important in a military sense, as was the heavy drawbridge
thrown across the moat of some ancient castle.

[Sidenote: Fort Washington.]

Fort Washington[5] was, therefore, built on a commanding height two and
a half miles below King's Bridge, with outworks covering the approaches
to the bridge, either by the country roads coming in from the north or
from Harlem River at the east. These works were never finished, but even
if they had been they could not solve the problem of a successful
defence, because it lay always in the power of the strongest army to cut
off all communication with the country beyond--and that means the
passing in of reenforcements or supplies--by merely throwing itself
across the roads just referred to. This done, the army in New York must
either be shut up in the island, or come out and fight, provided the
enemy had not already put it out of their power to do so by promptly
seizing King's Bridge. And in that case there was no escape except by
water, under fire of the enemy's ships of war.

One watchful eye, therefore, had to be kept constantly to the front,
and another to the rear, between positions lying twelve to thirteen
miles apart, and separated by a wide and deep river.

It thus appears that the defence of New York was a much more formidable
task than had, at first, been supposed, an