British general William Howe, after evacuating Boston in March 1776, regrouped in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and embarked in June on a campaign to gain control of New York City.

British troops made another unopposed landing, on Long Island, on August 22, south of the areas where General George Washington's Continental Army had organized significant defenses around Brooklyn Heights.

[14] General Howe's army advanced slowly, with troops from his center and right moving along the road from New Rochelle to White Plains, while a unit of Loyalists occupied Mamaroneck.

The latter was attacked that night by a detachment of Lord Stirling's troops under John Haslet, who took more than thirty prisoners as well as supplies, but suffered several killed and 15 wounded.

[16] Washington established his headquarters at the Elijah Miller House in North White Plains on October 23,[17] and chose a defensive position that he fortified with two lines of entrenchments.

[18] The trenches were situated on raised terrain, protected on the right by the swampy ground near the Bronx River, with steeper hills further back as a place of retreat.

This move was apparently made in the hopes of catching Charles Lee's column, which had to alter its route toward White Plains and execute a forced march at night to avoid them.

[31] While Howe and his command conferred, the Hessian artillery on the left opened fire on the hilltop position, where they succeeded in driving the militia into a panicked retreat.

Rall's charge scattered the militia on the American right, leaving the flank of the Maryland and New York regiments exposed as they poured musket fire onto the British attackers, which temporarily halted their advance.

Haslet's Delaware regiment, which anchored the American left, provided covering fire while the remaining troops retreated to the north, and were the last to leave the hill.

[39] Henry Dawson estimates 50 killed, 150 wounded and 17 missing for McDougall's and Spencer's commands but has no information on the losses in Haslet's regiment.

With the arrival of additional Hessian and Waldeck troops under Lord Percy on October 30, Howe planned to act against the Americans the following day.

Washington, seeing an opportunity for a victory to boost the nation's morale, crossed the Delaware and surprised Rall's troops in the December 26 Battle of Trenton.

[47][48][49] According to some historians, the Headless Horseman depicted in Washington Irving's short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" was inspired by a real-life Hessian soldier who lost his head by cannon fire during this battle.