Note 24 — Chapter II
Reading edition
"Feb. 23d, 1776.—... General Lee is taking every necessary step to fortify and defend this city. The men-of-war are gone out of our harbor; the Phœnix is at the Hook; the Asia lays near Beedlow's Island; so that we are now in a state of perfect peace and security, was it not for our apprehensions of future danger. To see the vast number of houses shut up, one would think the city almost evacuated. Women and children are scarcely to be seen in the streets. Troops are daily coming in; they break open and quarter themselves in any houses they find shut up. Necessity knows no law."—Letter from F. Rhinelander. "Life of Peter Van Schaack."