Less than one-third of this force had served from the beginning of the war. The artillery battalion of Colonel Knox numbered less than six hundred men, and the guns themselves were of various patterns and calibre, to be handled by men who knew little of their use or range. On the fifth of August Governor Trumbull of Connecticut assured Washington that “he did not greatly dread what the enemy could do, trusting Heaven to support us, knowing our cause to be righteous.” Washington’s reply, dated the seventh, was characteristic and practical: “To trust in the justice of our cause, without our utmost exertion, would be tempting Providence.” Although Trumbull had already sent five regiments forward, he soon sent nine additional regiments, averaging about three hundred men each, in time to be present when the British eventually landed in Westchester County. Two regiments under Colonel Prescott, of Bunker Hill fame, were on duty upon Governor’s Island. The works on Long Island, begun by General Lee, had been completed by General Greene, who had explored the country thoroughly and knew the range of every piece. A redoubt with seven guns crowned the Heights. The exposed point of Red Hook, a combination of marsh and solid land, was supplied with five guns. The intrenchments, more than a half mile in length, were protected by abatis and four redoubts which mounted twenty guns. Greene occupied these redoubts and lines with two regiments of Long Island militia and six regiments of Continental troops, not one of which exceeded four hundred men, for duty. The line extended from Wallabout, the present Navy Yard, to Gowanus Bay. The total nominal strength of the American army about New York on the twenty-sixth of August, including the sick, non-effectives, and those without arms, was a little over twenty-seven thousand men. The Connecticut regiments which had just joined brought such arms as they could provide for themselves, and were simply that many citizens with nominal organization, but without drill. Meanwhile, the entire line from Brooklyn to King’s Bridge, fifteen miles, with the navigable waters of the Hudson, the Harlem, and East rivers, and their shore approaches, had to be guarded. It was not entirely certain but that Howe simply feigned an attack upon the intrenched position upon the Heights, to draw thither Washington’s best troops, and take the city by water approach. Paulus Hook, then an island, was fortified in a measure, but was unable to prevent the passage of two vessels which at once cut off water communication with Albany and the northern American army.