Lieutenant John Roberts, Royal Artillery

"At about 12 o'clock on the night of the attack, there was an alarm given by the sentries firing. As there was not above two shots fired at first, imagining this might arise from the Sentries who might have fired inconsiderately (there having been several false alarms before). I waited about a minute and a half at my tent when I heard several more shots fired, upon which I put on my coat and shoes, or boots (I do not remember which), and ran to turn out the men. After doing this,.I went to Captain Tiffin, whom I found getting out of his tent. I being the officer of the Inner Work that night, I repaired to the battery on the left flank, where there was an 18 and a 24 pounder, and where found Captain Clayton of the 17th Regiment, and a party of men lining the parapet. Captain Clayton, seeing I belonged to the artillery (though I believe he did not know me to be an officer from the manner in which he spoke to me) said, 'For God's sake, why are not the Artillery here not being made use of, as the enemy are in the hollow and crossing the water!' The hollow I understood Captain Clayton meant was the one a little in front and to the left of the advanced abatis. My answer was that the ammunition was not come up, there being no ammunition kept on these batteries, and had it been up these guns, I imagined, could not have been made use of."

Lt. Roberts later escaped capture by swimming to the HMS Vulture, anchored in the Hudson between Stony Point and Verplanck's Point.