On August 10, 1781, the Canadian Regiment was reassigned from the Northern Department to the Main Army. On August 19, Washington used the regiment to feint preparations for an attack on New York. It crossed the Hudson River at Dobbs Ferry and was ordered to march, together with New Jersey troops, to posts on the heights between Springfield and Chatham, in which position the detachment would cover a French battery that had been set up at Chatham "to veil our real movements and create apprehensions for Staten Island." Meanwhile, the main body of the American Army was starting their southward movement toward Yorktown. The regiment withdrew, and held near Kakiat for three days from August 22–25.