![]() To attack northern Manhattan would have been a nightmare for the Americans and their French allies. The results were conclusive: the British had used their five year occupation of Manhattan to tremendous effect. Over the next days, Washington and Rochambeau studied the notes they had taken. The reconnaissance finally completed, the generals ordered their troops to fall back to French and American camps near Dobbs Ferry. However, they were back to work early the next day scouting landing sites on Long Island. Washington and Rochambeau Debriefīy 9 o’clock that night, after almost twenty-four hours in the saddle, Washington and Rochambeau and their staffs finally sat down to supper and to review the information that had been collected. Quick action by the generals’ aides and a few dragoons saved them from capture. At one point they were surprised by a party of about twenty Tories. Searching for a good spot to cross the river further south, the two generals continued their exploration. It became clear that any direct attack on forts across the Harlem River would be costly. To take a closer look at stronger fortifications down the island, they joined the advanced American battalion to the front of British Redoubt Number 8. They noted weaknesses in the British works along Spuyten Duyvil creek. Washington and Rochambeau made careful notes as the British began to expose their fortified positions. Within fifteen minutes of the shots fired by Hessian jaegers on picket duty, British light dragoons were ferried across the Harlem River to oppose the American and French forces. Though surprised, the British soldiers reacted quickly. Ultimately in position over a front extending nearly two and a half miles long, Washington proudly boasted in his diary that, “The enemy did not appear to have had the least intelligence of our movement or to know we were upon the height opposite to them till the whole Army were ready to display.” Retaliation Roughly 4,000 American and French soldiers divided into four major columns picked their way over difficult terrain towards Manhattan. The feint attack on the British works defending New York began in the early morning darkness of July 22, 1781. Feint Attacks on the Unsuspecting British Once the enemy’s strength and the location of his defensive works has been exposed, the attacking forces withdraw, their objective having been accomplished. ![]() ![]() To accomplish this, Washington, in combination with recently arrived French forces commanded by the compte de Rochambeau, planned a reconnaissance-in-force.Ī classic military tactic, a reconnaissance-in-force uses a significant assault on enemy fortifications to draw the enemy’s fire. Determining the layout of the British fortifications was an essential first step in preparing plans for an assault. Manhattan had been controlled by the British since 1776 and their forces were well entrenched.
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