army
into five brigades, with the view of putting them into suitable and
permanent camps. To the command of these he assigned Heath, Spencer,
Sullivan, Greene, and Stirling, in the order of their rank. The
twenty-five battalions which made up the force at this date numbered
together not quite ten thousand men.

But hardly were the orders for this new arrangement issued before
events required its modification. Our affairs proving to be in a bad
way in the direction of Canada, it became necessary to despatch
General Sullivan with six regiments to the northward, and on the 29th
of April the troops in New York were formed anew into four brigades,
and assigned to their respective camps. Heath's first brigade was
posted on the Hudson, just without the city above the Canal Street
marsh and about Richmond Hill; Spencer's second, on the East River,
around the Rutgers' farm and Jones' Hill; and Stirling's fourth, in
the centre, near Bayard's Hill and the Bowery Road; while Greene's
third brigade was assigned to "the ground marked out upon Long
Island." But one work now lay before these soldiers, namely, to put
New York and its vicinity in a complete state of defence in the
shortest possible time. Howe and his Boston army, it was now known,
had gone to Halifax instead of sailing for New York; but he could
still reach, and, with reinforcements from England, attack the city
before the Americans were ready to receive him. The situation,
accordingly, admitted of no delays, and digging was made the order of
the day. No one could have anticipated, however, that preparations
were to be continued full four months longer before active campaigning
opened.

This interval of fortifying is not without its interest; and we may
cross, first, with Greene to Long Island, to note what further was
done towards securing that "capital" point in the general system of
defence.

* * * * *

From the orders of April 24th and 25th it would appear that it was
Washington's original intention to give the Brooklyn command, not to
Greene, but to Sullivan. The latter was assigned to the Third Brigade
before going to Canada, and on the 25th the encampment of this brigade
was ordered to be marked out "upon Long Island." The fact that
Sullivan was senior to Greene in rank, and was entitled, as between
the two, to the honor and responsibility of the separate command, was
doubtless the ground of his assignment in this case. But a g