1. Chaplain Benjamin Trumbull of Col. William Douglas’s regiment says in his journal entry for 8 Nov.: “The Brigade under General Wadsworth had orders to March at Break of Day and to Take the Ground where Lord Stirling had been encamped, about two miles West of where we lay before. Had our Tents loaded and marched before Sun rise” (“Trumbull Journal,” 208). Stirling’s brigade, which had been posted in the woods between White Plains and Tarrytown since the night of 28 Oct. to protect the army’s right flank, marched to North Castle on the afternoon of 7 Nov., and it proceeded the next day to Peekskill (see “McMichael’s Diary,” description begins William P. McMichael. “Diary of Lieutenant James McMichael, of the Pennsylvania Line, 1776–1778.” Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 16 (1892): 129–59. description ends 138). Although GW was not convinced until 8 Nov. that it was safe to begin reinforcing New Jersey, he apparently relieved Stirling’s brigade of its flanking duty on this date to free it for such an assignment. Composed of regiments from Virginia, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, Stirling’s brigade satisfied the recent council of war’s desire that New Jersey be reinforced by troops raised in states west of the Hudson River (see the proceedings of the council of war, 6 November). For Stirling’s subsequent crossing to New Jersey, see GW to Greene, 8 Nov., and note 3, GW to Putnam, 9 Nov., Stirling to GW, 10 Nov., and GW to Hancock, 11 November).

2. General Howe issued similar orders to his army on 6 Nov. (see Kemble Papers description begins [Stephen Kemble]. The Kemble Papers. 2 vols. New York, 1884-85. In Collections of the New-York Historical Society, vols. 16–17. description ends , 1:403).