"Third--The subalterns and fourteen.

"Fourth--The rear."

Such was the daring plan laid for the capture of the Prince, and which,
even if not fully successful, might have placed his Royal Highness in a
most perilous predicament. It appears, however, from a fragment of a
letter addressed by General Washington to Col. Ogden, and apparently
written almost immediately after the preceding one, that some inkling of
the design had reached Sir Henry Clinton, then in New York, and
Commander-in-chief of the British forces. General Washington
communicates, in his letter, the following paragraph from a secret
despatch, dated March 23rd, which he had just received from some
emissary in New York:--

"Great seem to be their apprehensions here. About a fortnight
ago a great number of flat boats were discovered by a sentinel
from the bank of the river (Hudson's), which are said to have
been intended to fire the suburbs, and in the height of the
conflagration to make a descent on the lower part of the city
and wrest from our embraces His Excellency Sir H. Clinton,
Prince William Henry, and several other illustrious personages,
since which great precautions have been taken for the security
of those gentlemen, by augmenting the guards, and to render
their persons as little exposed as possible."

In another letter, dated Newburgh, April 2nd, 1782, General Washington
observes, "After I wrote to you from Morris Town, I received information
that the sentries at the door of Sir Henry Clinton were doubled at eight