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A History of the County of Westchester, Vol. II — Passage 101 (part 3)

Robert Bolton, Jr. (1848) 244 words View original →

[Robert Bolton, Jr. (1848)] Major Rosa was detached to possess himself of Post's house, to preserve a communication with Lieut. Col. Tarleton ou Valentine's hill; the remainder of the Rangers inclined to the right, towards Gist's camp, and Lieut. Col. Emmerick was directed to secure the Saw Mill road. Firing soon began; and it was appa-rent from Lieut. Col. Emmerick's quarter, whom the enemy had discovered. Lieut. Col. Simcoe immediately moved rapidly into the road, and directly up the steeps to the enemy's camp, as a nearer way than through the thickets; he attained it, and, to his great surprise, found that Major Pruschank had not forced Philips' bridge, as had been intended, but had crossed and joined Capt. Wreden on Cortlandt's ridge, and that Col. Gist had escaped through the passage which had been so unaccountably left open. Lieut. Col. Tarleton fell in with a patrole of cavalry, and dispersed it; and the Queen's Rangers, as soon as they got possession of Gist's camp, having ambuscaded themselves took a patrole which came forward on hearing the firing. The troops set fire to Gist's huts and returned to their'camp.'' From the American accounts, it appears that all the roads and bridges had been well guarded by the enemy, except the one now called Warner's bridge, and that Capt. John Odell upon the first alarm led off his troops through the woods on the west side of the Saw Mill; here Colonel Gist joined them. In the mean-time Mrs.