Croton River, New York
Croton River, New York
CROTON RIVER, NEW YORK. 14 May 1781. Advancing through the "Neutral Ground" from their base in southern Westchester County under cover of darkness, the Third Battalion of James De Lancey's Brigade of Loyalists crossed the Croton River. Near sunrise, they surprised an outpost of the Rhode Island Regiment just after the night sentries had come back to quarters. Washington's standing instructions to the forces manning these forward lines stressed that they were never to remain in the same camp two nights in a row because Loyalist sympathizers could pass detailed information to the British very quickly. Colonel Christopher Greene, a brave and otherwise competent officer, ignored the rules and paid for it with his life. Major Ebenezer Flagg and about a dozen others were killed and about thirty captured. The Loyalists appear to have suffered insignificant losses. The fight's military significance is minor, but public opinion was inflamed by allegations that Greene's body was mutilated.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hufeland, Otto. Westchester County during the American Revolution, 1775–1783. Harrison, N.Y.: Harbor Hill Books, 1974.
revised by Robert K. Wright Jr.