You may judge, from this short description, of the strength of the position. They calculate that it could bid defiance to twenty thousand men, if it was properly garrisoned. And then, when you consider that it commands the whole country from New York to Canada, and keeps open the communication between the eastern and southern States, you can judge of the amount of damage Arnold's surrender of it would have done to the cause we were fighting for. Well, in the early part of last August, Arnold obtained the command of West Point, after considerable solicitation. He obtained his request, as I said before, and went immediately to the Highlands, and established his head-quarters at Robinson's house, two or three miles below West Point, on the east side of the river.
West Point is, of course, on the west side.
How much longer it had been going on, we don't know. General Arnold took command of West Point, and then he thought it was a proper time to bring matters to an end. This, the British commander agreed to do, and Major Andre, the adjutant-general of the British, was selected for that service. It appears that Arnold wanted to make quite certain of the reward he was to receive for his treachery, before he advanced too far. You know, I suppose, that about this time a detachment of cavalry was stationed at the outposts, on the west side of the Hudson river.