This achievement of General Washington, this wonderful feat of withdrawing an entire army of ten thousand men, with all the arms, including heavy artillery, and the ammunitions and provisions from right under the very nose of the enemy, and without the enemy even suspecting what was going on, will always be considered one of the greatest triumphs of generalship the world has ever known. This feat, when it became known in England, caused some of the greatest soldiers, and generals, and over in Europe as well, to shake their heads and declare that General Washington was a commander who would cause the British a great deal of trouble. And after events proved that they were right in their prophecies. General Putnam must have told General Washington about Dick Dare having carried a message practically through the lines of the British, to General Stirling, during the battle of Long Island, for the commander-in-chief, happening to see Dick the day after the army took up quarters in New York, spoke to him about the matter, and complimented him on having successfully delivered the message, thus probably saving Stirling's force from capture. To say that Dick was well pleased at receiving words of praise from the lips of the commander-in-chief is stating it mildly. And when he told Tom and Ben what General Washington had said, they were well pleased also, and declared that the commander-in-chief should have cause to be satisfied with all three of them many times before the end of the war, and, as friends will find, if they read the succeeding volume of the Dare Boys Series, which will be entitled, "The Dare Boys on The Hudson," the brothers kept their word, and performed many, many wonderful deeds of daring while fighting for Liberty. The British commander-in-chief now put in a week trying to get the patriot commander-in-chief to agree to peace, he stating that the king would make certain concessions, but as in accordance with the Declaration of Independence this was not to be thought of for a moment, the interviews came to naught, and so the British commander-in-chief began making preparations to continue the war. His next move, undoubtedly would be to capture New York City, and General Washington knew this would be an easy matter, so he made preparations to retreat to Harlem Heights, on the banks of the Hudson at the north end of Manhattan Island, where he would occupy a strategic position. On the fifteenth of September the British made the move that was expected. Warships from Admiral Howe's fleet ascended the Hudson river as far as Bloomingdale, and the East River as far as Blackwell's Island, and while they bombarded the north end of the island, General Howe brought his army across from Brooklyn in boats, and landed at Kipp's Bay, near what is now the foot of 34th Street.