Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/84



is not much to remind the present inhabitant of New York of the little city that lay at the south end of Manhattan Island a hundred years ago. It was a pretty place, with large, comfortable houses, built mostly of yellow brick. Within were low studded rooms, with sanded floors, and high, painted wainscots. The sideboards, of solid mahogany, in the better houses, shone with pewter for every-day use; and there was often solid silver, for state occasions. The streets were crooked and had gutters in the middle, but were fairly clean, and bordered with trees. Before the war there had been over twenty thousand inhabitants, but many of these had fled on the approach of the contending armies. There were many Tories, especially among the rich.

At the time when Washington retreated from Brooklyn, New York was defended by a permanent fort, called Fort George, at the west end of the Battery, and by temporary works thrown up at various places along the shore. On the north, or landward, side, a barrier crossed Broadway near the Bowling Green, and there was another near the site of the present Centre Market.