An interesting sham fight took place in Van Cortland Park last week.
The soldiers were divided into two forces, the attacking and the defending, and the object of the fight was to see what the commander's idea of defence would be, in case an enemy attacked the city.
A number of officers from the regular army attended the fight, and praised our citizen soldiers in high terms for the excellent work they did during the action.
The attacking party came up from the banks of the Hudson River at Riverdale, and endeavored to steal down the high-road to Kingsbridge, where they could cross over the Harlem River, and so find themselves on Manhattan Island, with the upper part of New York city at their mercy.
The defenders divided their forces into two divisions,—the army of the West and the army of the East: the one to check the invaders if it was their intention to march across the country to New Rochelle, and the other to prevent any attempt to reach New York city.
The general of the defending army took up his position on Woodlawn Heights, where he could see just which way the attacking army was going to move; and finding that the attempt was to be made on New York, sent troops to the roads and the fields through which the invaders must try to pass.
So well did he lay his plans that the invaders found themselves checked at every point. There was not a loophole left unguarded for them to creep through, and at last, after much good generalship had been displayed on both sides, the invaders were driven back, and the defenders claimed the victory.
The sham battle was followed by a review of the troops engaged, and when it was all over the citizen soldiers returned to the city, tired and dusty, but proud of their good day's work.