Henry Clinton, having left Boston on January 20 with two companies of light infantry, had first stopped at New York City to confer with William Tryon, New York's royal governor.

Major General Charles Lee, sent by Major General George Washington to see to the defense of New York, had coincidentally arrived there the same day as Clinton.

New York is at this time extremely tense; Patriot forces are beginning to disarm and evict Loyalists, and the British fleet anchored there is having difficulty acquiring provisions.

Despite this, Clinton makes no secret that his final target is in the south.

Lee observes that this is "certainly a droll way of proceeding; to communicate his full plan to the enemy is too novel to be credited."

This is not even the first notice of the expedition to the colonists; a letter intercepted in December had already provided intelligence that the British were planning to go to the South.