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207
FORT WASHINGTON SURRENDERED,
1776.]
back in good order to White Plains, leaving a garrison to hold Fort Washington. At White Plains, after some severe fighting, Washington again fell back to a position on high ground, near at hand, that was so strong that the British general did not dare to attack him. Returning to the upper part of Manhattan Island, Howe made an assault upon Fort Washington, and compelled its surrender after heavy losses. In the garrison of twenty-six hundred men, who were made prisoners of war, were many from Connecticut. They were treated with inhuman cruelty. Crowded together in miser- able quarters, they suffered from the want of food, water, and fresh air. Disease, famine, and brutal treatment ended the life of large numbers. Those who survived, told a story of almost incredible suffering.
It was a dark hour in the history of the people that had declared but not achieved their independence. The fall of Fort Washington made it impossible to hold Fort Lee, and the Hudson was open to the British. The American army was reduced by the return to their homes of many of the militia who had enlisted for a short time. The British gen- erals were elated by their success, and anticipated a speedy end of the conflict. In the midst of these depressing cir- cumstances, Washington stood calm and undismayed. Con- fident that the British would soon march in the direction of Philadelphia, he left only a few troops on the shore of the Hudson above New York, and with the main body of his army started for New Jersey. No sooner had Washington left his encampment than he was followed by Lord Corn- wallis. The American army was now reduced to a little remnant of three thousand men. While they continued their retreat, in sight, most of the time, of the pursuing enemy, Washington sent messages in every direction, calling for more troops. The country was thoroughly alarmed. Con- gress deemed discretion the better part of valor, and was preparing to leave Philadelphia. In this dark hour Trum-
208
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1777.
bull stood undismayed, and said for Connecticut and himself, ·· We are determined to maintain our cause to the last ex- tremity."
Determined to strike a blow that would help to restore the confidence of the people as well as his army, Washington crossed the Delaware, above Trenton, on Christmas night, and attacked a body of several hundred Hessians posted there. The surprise was complete. General Rall, their commander, was mortally wounded ; and after a sharp and desperate charge of the Continental forces, they surrendered. Nearly a thousand men, with a large number of guns and cannon, were taken. Eight days later the battle of Princeton was fought, and the regiments left there by Cornwallis com- pletely routed.
The enemy had been driven from every post it had occu- pied in New Jersey, except Brunswick and Amboy ; and Philadelphia was once more safe. The army spent the win- ter at Morristown, and there was little fighting for several months. During the following summer, the English fleet and army sailed from New York, and appeared in the Chesapeake. Washington hastened to meet it, and the battle of Brandy- wine was fought. The Americans were forced to retire, and the British advanced towards Philadelphia. After a sharp attack on the enemy at Germantown, Washington withdrew to Valley Forge, and Lord Howe occupied Philadelphia.
The memorable victory of the summer of 1777 was won in the north, - a victory in which Connecticut soldiers acted an honorable part. The English general, Burgoyne, with eight thousand men and a large number of Indians, came down from St. John, New Brunswick, with the purpose of attack- ing Albany, and cutting off New England from the other colonies. Ticonderoga was taken ; and General Schuyler, who was in command of the northern department, fell back to Fort Edward. The country was filled with alarm at the progress of the British, and re-enforcements began to pour in
1777.]
BORGOYNE'S SURRENDER.
209
to the American camp. Burgoyne was delayed after his vic- tories by the bridges having been destroyed, and the roads obstructed. The tide began to turn, and in several skir- mishes the advantage was with the Americans. A battle was fought on the 19th of September, in which the Ameri- cans sadly crippled the British force. On the 7th of October Burgoyne again advanced, and, after a hard fight, was Cherry Valley o Albany W Y O R --- N driven back in disorder to his R CATSKILL MTS. H HOSDOH camp. The following day he Susquehanna KingstonA Newburg MASS retreated towards Saratoga ; Delaware R. -- NNOO DODanbury West Pt. O and on the 17th of October Ft.Clinton OR Fairfield O his army of more Stony Pt. Of Harlem Tarrytown. than five thou- Wyoming 9 W. Plains sa -Norwalko · Peekskill sand men laid Newark o Long I. M.T.Sİ NEW YORK down their arms, PEN ZSusquehanna; NSYLVANIA ElizabethO Staten Ls. Brooklyn- Schuylk ALLEGHANY Morristowno Trenton and were sent as New Brunswick Sandy Hook R. Princeton O Amboy Juniata R. prisoners of war o Monmouth Norristown Valley Forg E to Boston. LancasterO BLUE RIDGE, Germantown
Wilmington 0 DELAWARE Among other Elkton --- Connecticut offi- BALTIMOREO cers who acted a MAR are Ba worthy part in this memorable Scale of Miles 50 100 campaign, was 0 Captain Moses BATTLE-FIELDS OF THE REVOLUTION. Seymour of Litchfield, who commanded a company of cavalry. During the night that followed the last battle between Gage and Burgoyne, Captain Seymour watched with a British officer who had been severely wounded, and carried from the field. As he entered the room, the officer eagerly inquired of him as to the fate of the day. When told that the British had been defeated, he remarked, "Then, the contest is no longer doubt- ful : America will be independent." The prophecy of the dying soldier was to become the truth of history. When the
Chad's Ford
Brandywine Cr.
Philadelphia
York o
Elk R.
RES EY
210
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1777.
tidings of the surrender of Burgoyne reached England. many of her leading statesmen lost hope of saving the colo- nies ; and this great victory hastened the alliance by which France gave her aid to America.
1 WHILE the army was at New York, experiments, under the eye of Put- nam, were made with an invention of David Bushnell, a native of Westbrook, that failed to accomplish what was desired, only by a combination of un- fortunate circumstances. Mr. Bushnell, while a student at Yale, in 1771, sug- gested the idea of attacking a vessel underneath the water, and constructed a submarine boat capable of this service. " It was a boat," says Colonel Henry L. Abbott of the United-States Army, " so constructed as to be capable of be- ing propelled at any depth below the surface of the water, and of being ele- vated or depressed at pleasure; to this was attached a magazine of powder, designed to be secured by a screw to the bottom of a ship; when the magazine should be disengaged from the boat, cer- tain machinery was to be set in motion, which would cause it to explode at any desired time. Fulton simply improved upon and developed Bushnell's offensive machines, but he originated the method of operation now known as defensive torpedo warfare; and Samuel Colt, by introducing electricity as the agent for
igniting the charges, rendered it possible to perfect both classes of torpedoes. To these three men we owe more than to any others the inauguration of this new and important mode of maritime war- fare, which, by strengthening the hands of the weak, has done, and is doing, much to justify the sentiment inscribed by Fulton upon the titlepage of his first treatise upon torpedo warfare: 'The Liberty of the Seas will be the Hap piness of the Earth.'" Bushnell called his torpedo-boat " The American Tur- tle." In December, 1777, he set afloat, in the Delaware River, some torpedoes in kegs, that demolished one British ves. sel. The fright they caused is celebrated in Hopkinson's poem, "The Battle of the Kegs."
2 Captain Hale was twenty-one years of age at the time of his death, Sept. 22, 1776. The tradition that Ilale was dis- covered in the British camp, and betrayed by a Tory relative, is not accepted by Stuart, Lossing, and others, who have made special investigations as to the truth of the story. Rev. Edward E. Hale, D.D., a kinsman of Captain Hale, believes the tradition to be false.
211
THE WAR IN CONNECTICUT.
1777.]
CHAPTER XXXIV.
1777.
BURNING OF DANBURY.
TTAVING followed the fortunes of the American army during a part of the year 1777, let us now recall the story of less important events, but of great local interest in the history of Connecticut.
Lord Howe, before leaving New York, determined to de- stroy a quantity of military stores that he had been informed were deposited at Danbury. For this purpose a detached corps of eighteen hundred men, and a small number of dra- goons, were put in command of Governor Tryon, who had been appointed a major-general of provincials. The vessels in which they embarked from New York cast anchor in Saugatuck Harbor late in the afternoon of the 25th of April. Under the guidance of two Tories they started for Danbury. They marched about eight miles that night, and encamped in the limits of the present township of Weston.
On the following morning they resumed their march, meet- ing with no opposition until they began the ascent of Hoyt's . Hill, near the village of Bethel. At this point a solitary horseman appeared at the top of the hill, and looking back, as if an army were close at hand, he rose in his stirrups, and, waving his sword, exclaimed in a voice of thunder, " Halt the whole universe ! break off by kingdoms!" General Tryon commanded his men to halt, and sent out two detachments
212
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1777.
on the right and left to reconnoitre, and at the same time got two of his field-pieces in position. The scouts soon re- turned with the report that the only person in sight was the horseman whose shout had disturbed them, and who was now making good his escape. The troops reached Danbury in the afternoon. Soon after entering the village, four young men in the house of Major Starr were rash enough to fire upon the English infantry, who at once pursued and shot them. The bodies were thrown into the house, which was immediately set on fire.
The work of pillage and destruction now commenced in earnest, and large quantities of public stores were removed to the street and burned. The soldiers drank so freely of liquor which they found in one of the buildings, that many of them were in a condition of beastly intoxication. The next morning was the sabbath, but Tryon gave orders to continue the work of firing the dwellings and business places of all persons except those who were known to be loyal to the king. The Congregational church, the largest and most expensive building in the place, was burned to the ground, with a large portion of the homes and stores of the village. The houses that escaped the torch of the British soldiers were marked with a white cross, to signify that those who owned them were Tory sympathizers.
Having finished the work of destruction that left innocent women and children without food or shelter, the enemy hur- ried from the town. By this time the militia of the neigh- boring towns were gathering, with the venerable General Wooster as their leader. Arnold and Sullivan, with four hundred men, had come from the Hudson by a rapid march. Although Tryon returned by another route, he found himself confronted by the Connecticut troops at Ridgefield. With a little company of two hundred men, Wooster hung on the rear of the British. While cheering his men by word and action, he fell at their head mortally wounded. At a point
213
THE FIGHT AT RIDGEFIELD.
1777.]
farther on, in the village street, Arnold threw up a barricade, and bravely held his position until it was turned. His horse was shot under him, and a soldier advanced upon him with fixed bayonet ; but he quickly extricated himself, and, drawing his pistol, shot his assailant, while he escaped unhurt. That night the British lay on their arms about a mile south of the village. At daybreak on Monday they hurried towards the Sound, and only escaped another encounter with the Connec- ticut men by fording the Saugatuck River, and running to a high hill a half-mile away from where their vessels lay, off Norwalk. Congress voted money to build a monument to Wooster; and, at the request of Washington, Arnold was made a major-general, and also given " a horse caparisoned as a token of their approbation of his gallant conduct."
It was not until the British troops were embarked, and sail- ing towards New York, that they felt safe from the attacks of the Connecticut militiamen. In a short time these pa- triots retaliated in another way. Learning through General Parsons that a large quantity of military stores had been gathered at Sag Harbor for the use of the British army, Return Meigs of Guilford determined to destroy them. He secured a few whale-boats, and sailed from Sachem's Head on the 23d of May with one hundred and seventy men. About midnight they reached a point on the Long-Island shore some four miles from Sag Harbor. Just as they were pre- pared to seize the guard who were in charge of the military store, the alarm was given, and a schooner that was near at hand opened a brisk fire. Colonel Meigs at once began an attack, in which most of the guard were taken prisoners. He destroyed ten loaded transports, and burned one vessel of six or eight guns, besides destroying a large amount of hay, grain, and merchandise. At two in the afternoon, twenty-four hours from the time they started, they reached Guilford with ninety prisoners, and without the loss of a single man. An elegant sword was given to Meigs by Con-
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HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1777.
gress in recognition of his bold and successful raid; and Washington promoted Sergeant Ginnings for special merit in the part he acted in this expedition.
The Continental army in 1777 was divided into three de- partments. The first division, consisting of the troops south of the Hudson, was under Washington ; General Schuyler commanded the northern department ; while the third, under General Putnam, was stationed in the Highlands of the Hud- son. When tidings came of the taking of Ticonderoga by Burgoyne, Washington ordered two Massachusetts brigades in the Highlands to join the forces of General Schuyler ; and after Lord Howe sailed from New York, he ordered one of the Connecticut brigades, and one from Rhode Island, to come to Pennsylvania. This left Putnam with a single Connecticut brigade and a New-York regiment. Having established his headquarters at Peekskill, he did all that he could to protect life and property from the barbarous raids of the British soldiers, who still remained in New York. Governor Tryon was very anxious to take Putnam as a captive, and was lavish in his promises of reward to any one who would accomplish this purpose. In spite of Putnam's vigilance, a Tory officer by the name of Palmer found his way into the American camp, but was detected, tried, and condemned as a spy. Tryon used every effort to save the life of the prisoner. In a letter to Putnam he threatened direst vengeance in case of any harm befalling one of the king's commissioned officers. The reply of the American general was characteristic, and read as follows : -
" Sir, - Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in your king's service, was taken in my camp as a spy. IIe was tried as a spy, he was condemned as a spy, and you may rest assured, sir, he shall be hanged as a spy.
I have the honor to be, etc.,
ISRAEL PUTNAM.
HIS EXCELLENCY, GOVERNOR TRYON.
P.S. - Afternoon. IIe is hanged."
215
FORT MONTGOMERY SURRENDERED.
1777.]
The arrival of fresh troops at New York from England made Putnam feel uneasy. With a single brigade in the field, and only a regiment at Fort Montgomery, he could do but little if the British forces were to march against him. He wrote to Washington, but he could do nothing more than authorize him to call out the militia. On the 5th of October, Sir Henry Clinton, with three thousand men, sailed up the Hudson, and moved towards Fort Montgomery. The courier who was sent from the fort to Putnam, with a letter asking for re-enforcements, proved to be a Tory renegade, and did not deliver it. Climbing the mountains in the rear of the fort, the British troops made a vigorous assault. Putnam by this time was aware of the situation, but the brave men whom he sent from his camp could do nothing in the face of so large an army. At evening the fort was surrendered, after most of the garrison had contrived to escape.
Before the close of the year, Putnam, under the directions of Washington, selected a site for a new fort. The place chosen was West Point ; and during the month of January the first Connecticut brigade, in command of General Par- sons, threw up the first embankment of the fortifications, of what was afterwards called the " American Gibraltar."
The army at Valley Forge passed a winter of great suffer- ing ; but the tidings of the alliance with France came just before the opening of spring, and revived the hope and courage of Washington and his soldiers. The British evacuated Philadelphia on the 18th of June, and, having crossed the Delaware, marched in the direction of New York. Washington at once started in pursuit, and overtook them at Monmouth Court-House. The battle fought at this place opened favorably for the Americans, but General Lee's disobedience of orders threw the troops into confusion. Washington, after a stormy scene with the recreant officer, stopped the retreat, and repulsed the British ; but the victory was not decisive. The French fleet had arrived off Sandy
216
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1778.
Hook ; but Admiral D'Estaing, believing that there was not sufficient water to admit his entrance to the harbor of New York, sailed for Newport. This place was held by a British force of six thousand men, under General Pigot. General Sullivan was directed to co-operate with the French fleet, and a call was made upon Connecticut for militia to aid in this enterprise. On the 10th of August, the American army, ten thousand strong, landed on the north side of the island. By an unfortunate misunderstanding, Sullivan advanced sooner than the French admiral expected ; and in the interval of delay, Lord Howe, with the English fleet, appeared off the harbor. D'Estaing attempted to draw the British into battle ; but they avoided him, and a storm scattered both fleets. When the French ships returned, their admiral decided to sail for Boston for repairs. Sullivan was determined to fight, and advanced on the 29th of August against the enemy. His troops fought well, but after a sharp contest were driven back. The retreat to the main land was safely effected ; but the Americans felt, that if the French had co-operated with them, as promised, they could easily have driven the British from the island.
The year was one of care and anxiety throughout Connecti- cut. The Legislature was almost constantly in session ; and besides the troops that were raised to recruit the general army, a large number of men were sent to defend the towns along the coast. Every thing in the power of the State was done to meet the expenses of the war, and do justice to her soldiers ; but the depreciation of the Continental currency was already the cause of great suffering and loss. A Rev- olutionary soldier, Elisha Mason, who died at Litchfield in 1858, in the one-hundredth year of his age, often related the story of his experience after having been paid off in Conti- nental currency. After his discharge he started homeward from the Hudson. Having spent the night at Danbury, he attempted to settle his bill with the money he had just re-
1778-79.]
217
THE ENCAMPMENT AT REDDING.
1
ceived for his army services. This was refused, although he offered bills to the amount of forty dollars for his food and lodgings. As his wages were but eight dollars a month, he thus proposed to give the amount he had received for five months for his keeping for a single night. Mr. Mason was finally compelled to pawn his rifle to satisfy the demands of the landlord. This incident of personal experience illus- trates a form of loss and suffering that put the patriotism of the people to the severest test.
Late in the autumn of 1778, General Putnam removed his army from White Plains and Peekskill, to Redding. While here, the soldiers suffered so much from the want of LARS The Limited Balones SIX. VI DO LLAR'S outimental SIX DOL proper food and clothing, LARS 6 No 45541 SIX DOLLARS. LOLARS that some of the more THIS BILL entitles the Bearer to receive SIX SPANISH MILLED DOLLARS restive spirits persuaded DER. SE DOLLARS , or the Value there of in GOLD L LAR'S or SILVER . according to Currency the Connecticut brigades a Resolution of CON. GRESS publishdat Phi XIS IN ladelphia Nov. 2. 1776. DOLLARS to plan a march to Hart- I Franklin ford, and demand redress SIX DOLLARS WGibson CONTINENTAL MONEY. ontinental SIX VI DO of the Legislature. They were actually under arms 9 SIVT for this purpose when Putnam galloped up to the camp. His earnest words soon brought them to their senses ; and when he gave orders for them to shoulder arms, and march to their regimental quarters, they obeyed promptly, and with good humor.
In February, Governor Tryon, at the head of a strong detachment of British soldiers, left his quarters at Kings- bridge, and marched for Horse Neck, intending to destroy the Salt Works in that neighborhood. Horse Neck was an outpost of Putnam's forces ; and the day Governor Tryon started on his raid, the Connecticut general chanced to be there. A scouting-party, sent out by Putnam, came in sight of the enemy at New Rochelle : they retired to Rye Neck, and here they were seen in the early morning, and attacked
218
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT. [1779.
by the British. Captain Watson, with his little band of thirty men, defended himself as best he could while retreating to Horse Neck. Putnam had here gathered what forces he could muster, and planted a cannon on the brow of the hill near the meeting-house. He held the enemy in check for some time with his solitary field-piece ; but finding that he was far outnumbered, he gave orders for his men to retire through a swamp, and form on a hill some distance away. Lingering until the enemy were close at hand, and finding himself almost surrounded, he gave spurs to his horse, and plunged at full gallop down a precipitous hill in front of him. This declivity was so steep that it was furnished with more than a hundred stone steps to accommodate those who climbed it. The British dragoons did not dare to follow. One of the shots that was fired at him, passed through his hat ; but he escaped safely, and soon rallied a body of militia, and returned to Horse Neck. Finding that the enemy were on the way back to New York, he started in pursuit, and succeeded in taking about fifty prisoners, besides an ammu- nition wagon, and a baggage wagon filled with plunder, which Putnam was able to restore to the rightful owners.
219
WYOMING.
1778.]
CHAPTER XXXV. 1778-1779.
THE SETTLEMENT OF WYOMING.
IN the charter given by Charles II., the bounds of Con- necticut included all of the territory from Narragansett Bay to the Pacific. As the Dutch had before this taken possession of the territory of New York, Connecticut did not seek to establish any right to that country, but claimed the lands lying west of it. A beautiful valley on the upper waters of the Susquehanna had attracted the admiration of adventurous explorers ; and a company was formed to pur- chase and settle this spot, where Nature had been so lavish in her charms. A band of men from Connecticut visited the Wyoming Valley in 1762. They returned home, and the following spring brought their families with them. They were rejoicing in the fruits of an abundant harvest, when, on the 15th of October, they were startled by an Indian war-whoop. In the attack that followed, twenty men were killed and scalped. The rest of the settlers fled to the mountains, and after many hardships found their way back to Connecticut. In 1769 a much larger company started for Wyoming, having received special encouragement from the colonial authorities. By this time three officers with several men had taken possession of the valley, under a lease from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, by which they agreed to establish an Indian trading-house, and defend the country from foreign intruders. This was the beginning of a conflict
220
HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT.
[1778.
of rights, which was not settled until 1786, when the dis- puted territory was given to Pennsylvania, and Connecticut received a valuable tract of land in Ohio that was afterwards known as the Connecticut Reserve.
There were frequent encounters between the Pennsylvania authorities and the Connecticut settlers up to the time of the Revolution. When the war broke out, many of them enlisted in the ranks of the Continental army. This left the settle- ments in a more defenceless condition ; but abundant harvests were gathered, and in the spring of 1778 a large amount of grain was furnished for the army. About this time it was rumored that the British and Indians were preparing to in- vade the valley. The news was confirmed in several ways, and the frightened settlers sent word to their friends in the army to return home at once. All but two of the commis- sioned officers from Wyoming resigned, and hastened home- ward to protect their families. Congress delayed to send help until it was too late. While the enemy were concen- trating their forces, the women and children fled from their homes to the rude forts that had been built at several points.
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