Chapter XIX.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEW YORK, 1777 TO 1779.
The history of the Revolutionary War is principally
the history of a series of important expeditions,
conducted with varied success, against various parts of
North America. The contending armies appeared,
fought, and disappeared again. But the city of New
York was occupied from the summer of 1776 to the
autumn of 1783 by the British troops. In the country,
within a short march of Manhattan Island, hostilities
were ever recurring. At no time during the first five
years could the inhabitants of the villages of central
New Jersey or southwestern Connecticut feel
themselves safe. The forts on the Hudson were taken and
retaken.
It may not be uninteresting, in this connection, to look at a description of New York as seen by Hessian eyes at the time of the British occupation. The following extract is taken from a letter written by an officer who came over with reinforcements in the summer of 1777, and gives his first impressions:
“Now to give you an idea of America, or rather, of the little piece of America that we have become acquainted with. I cannot help saying that it is a beautiful, pleasant, and level country, and New York, although the part nearest the sea is burned down, one of the finest and most pleasing seaports that I have
