This action of the States rendered easier a plan of confederation, which seems to have been proposed by Franklin as early as Aug. 21, 1775. On July 12, 1776, a plan in Dickinson's handwriting, based on Franklin's, was reported, and was finally adopted by Congress, Nov. 15, 1777 (Journals, ii. 330), which was ratified by all the States in 1778 except Delaware (1779) and Maryland (1781), at which last date it became obligatory on all.[720]
The reader needs to be cautioned against a publication which assumes to be an Oration delivered at the State House in Philadelphia Aug. 1, 1776, by Samuel Adams (Philadelphia, reprinted at London, 1776), and which was translated into French and German. It is reprinted in Wells, iii., App. There is no copy of the pretended Philadelphia original known, and the publication is a London forgery (Wells, ii. 439), discoverable, if for no other reason, from the fact that its writer was unaware that the Declaration of Independence had passed.
CHAPTER IV.
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE HUDSON.
BY GEORGE W. CULLUM,
Major-General United States Army.
WHEN, in March, 1776, the British evacuated Boston, Washington felt assured that New York, already threatened, would be their objective point, not only on account of its commercial and strategical importance, but because it was the great arsenal of America. He therefore, as soon as practicable, concentrated in and about it his whole disposable force, and pushed forward the defences of the city and of its vicinity, already planned and partly executed by General Lee. Until the arrival of Washington, April 13, 1776, General Putnam commanded at New York, and General Greene, with a considerable body of troops, took charge of the incomplete intrenchments of Brooklyn, extending from the Wallabout (the present Navy Yard) to Gowanus Cove on New York Bay. These were now strengthened by four redoubts armed with twenty pieces of artillery, and by a strong interior keep mounting seven guns. These Brooklyn Heights, from their proximity and command of New York, were considered the key of the defence of this valuable city.
Fort George, with several redoubts and batteries, guarded the southern end of Manhattan Island, while the fortified hills overlooking Kingsbridge protected its northern extremity. On Red and Paulus Hooks, and at various points along the shores of the East and Hudson rivers, were erected earthworks, and a strong redoubt was built upon Governor's Island. Between the latter and the "Battery", hulks were sunk to obstruct the main channel. Notwithstanding all these defences, Manhattan Island, as events proved, was assailable at many points.