1. Ebenezer Howell (c.1748–1791), a physician from Salem County, N.J., was appointed major of Col. Silas Newcomb’s regiment of New Jersey militia levies on 22 June 1776. Howell became major of the 4th New Jersey regiment on 28 Nov. 1776, and he resigned his commission on 17 Feb. 1777.

2. Col. John Lasher, whom Heath had left in command of a detachment of troops at Fort Independence about a mile northeast of King’s Bridge, wrote Heath on 26 Oct. that the fort was in bad condition and his force was too small and too inadequately supplied with ammunition and artillery to defend it properly. “The Enemy,” Lasher says in his letter, “has drove off our Guard at Mile-Square and taken possession of the Stores. A large Body of light-Horse & light Infantry appeared on the Heights west of said place to day and we expect to have a Visit from them tomorrow” (MHi: Heath Papers). Heath consulted GW about Lasher’s situation, and at GW’s direction he replied to Lasher on this date, ordering him immediately to evacuate his post and burn the barracks there. “You may either do it your Selves,” Heath writes, “or Confer with Colonel Magaw, and Desire him to Send a Small Party to be present when you march off, and to Fire the Barracks when you get a few Miles distance.” Heath instructed Lasher to march to White Plains by way of Dobbs Ferry unless British forces blocked that route, in which case he was to retreat to Fort Washington (MHi: Heath Papers; see also Wilson, Heath’s Memoirs description begins Rufus Rockwell Wilson, ed. Heath’s Memoirs of the American War. 1798. Reprint. New York, 1904. description ends , 90). Lasher’s troops rejoined the army at White Plains a short time later.

Charles DeWitt, a member of the New York convention’s committee for enlisting new regiments, asked George Clinton in a letter of 25 Oct. to speak to GW “about sending some Troops back to the [King’s] Bridge, in order to save if possible the Barracks from being destroyd by the Enemy. I do not know where we shall get a Quantity of Boards sufficient for the army if we should loose those at the Bridge” (Hastings, Clinton Papers, 1:392–93). Whether or not Clinton complied with that request is not known, but the presence of British and Hessian raiders so near King’s Bridge apparently convinced GW to forgo any attempt to save the barracks (see Ewald, Diary description begins Johann Ewald. Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal. Translated and edited by Joseph P. Tustin. New Haven and London, 1979. description ends , 11; Lydenberg, Robertson Diaries description begins Harry Miller Lydenberg, ed. Archibald Robertson, Lieutenant-General Royal Engineers: His Diaries and Sketches in America, 1762–1780. New York, 1930. description ends , 105; and Baurmeister, Revolution in America description begins Carl Leopold Baurmeister. Revolution in America: Confidential Letters and Journals, 1776–1784, of Adjutant General Major Baurmeister of the Hessian Forces. Translated and annotated by Bernhard A. Uhlendorf. New Brunswick, N.J., 1957. description ends , 62).

3. The British frigates Pearl and Repulse sailed up the Hudson River early this morning and anchored near Burdett’s Ferry about half past seven to support an attack against the southern defenses of Fort Washington by troops under the command of Lord Hugh Percy (see Percy to Lord George Germain, 30 Oct., in Bolton, Percy Letters description begins Charles Knowles Bolton, ed. Letters of Hugh Earl Percy from Boston and New York, 1774–1776. Boston, 1902. description ends , 72–75, and Mackenzie, Diary description begins Diary of Frederick Mackenzie Giving a Daily Narrative of His Military Service as an Officer of the Regiment of Royal Welch Fusiliers during the Years 1775–1781 in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. 2 vols. Cambridge, Mass., 1930. description ends , 1:89–90). “The rebels,” a British observer writes, “brought down one 18–pounder on the York, and three other guns on the Jersey shore. The ships could not fire with any execution at these guns; and as they had answered the intent of their moving up, that of flanking the enemy’s lines and scouring the woods, while Lord Percy advanced towards the lines, and it now being high water, Captain [Henry] Davis [of the Repulse] thought it proper to drop the ships down to their former station. Many shots were thrown into the Repulse, and some into the Pearl; no men killed in either, and only one man’s leg broke on board the Repulse” (27 Oct. entry, Laughton, “Journals of Henry Duncan,” description begins John Knox Laughton, ed. “Journals of Henry Duncan, Captain, Royal Navy, 1776–1782.” The Naval Miscellany 1 (London, 1902): 105–219. In Publications of the Navy Records Society, vol. 20. description ends 133). The frigates returned down the river about eleven o’clock in the morning, and Percy’s force, finding the American lines too well defended to be attacked, withdrew out of cannon shot that afternoon (see the Pearl’s journal, 27 Oct., in Naval Documents description begins William Bell Clark et al., eds. Naval Documents of the American Revolution. 12 vols. to date. Washington, D.C., 1964–. description ends , 6:1429; Extract of a Letter from Fort-Lee, 27 Oct., ibid., 1428–29; Percy to Germain, 30 Oct., in Bolton, Percy Letters description begins Charles Knowles Bolton, ed. Letters of Hugh Earl Percy from Boston and New York, 1774–1776. Boston, 1902. description ends , 72–75; Greene to Hancock, 28 Oct., in Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 1:323–24; Tench Tilghman to William Duer, 29 Oct., in Force, American Archives description begins Peter Force, ed. American Archives. 9 vols. Washington, D.C., 1837–53. description ends , 5th ser., 2:1284–85; and Tatum, Serle’s Journal description begins Edward H. Tatum, Jr., ed. The American Journal of Ambrose Serle: Secretary to Lord Howe, 1776–1778. San Marino, Calif., 1940. description ends , 131–32).