When Washington’s Council of War (with a single exception) determined that sticking around New York City was a bad idea, the next step was deciding which way to go, and how to go about it.

To a certain extent, the decision was made for them, because the British had pretty well sewed up the Hudson River, which meant that getting across and into New Jersey stealthily would be problematic.

The other option was to move north, into the Bronx and the downstate area west and north of Pelham. There would still be a river to cross (the Bronx River), but that was much smaller and, better still, it wasn’t fortified by British ships.

They identified several crossing points and set up units to monitor those places, plus another couple of units to keep an eye on the British in general. In this manner they were able to move four regiments of men across to the mainland without alerting the British.

But having this option made for them also helped ensure that they could continue to defend the lower Hudson Valley and stave off that severing of the connection between New England and the rest of the colonies that Britain so coveted.

Over the next several days we’ll bring you up to the conflict that today is known as the Battle of White Plains.

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