USA > Connecticut > Connecticut as a colony and as a state; or, One of the original thirteen, Volume II > Part 4
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Thus ended a disagreeable episode in the military affairs of this time. Washington declined to offer any suggestion to the General Assembly regarding it, and expressed the utmost confidence in the zeal and patriotism of the people. The General Assembly afterwards voted, in some instances, full pay to the men who had left the army under the impression that their enlistment had expired.
An enemy more insidious, and possibly more dangerous to the causes of American liberty than the British forces, was the Tory press of James Rivington of New York. The ut- terances of his New York Gazetteer, as it was then called, were very severe upon the patriots or Whigs of the day, and found a wide circulation and ready sympathy with the large and growing Tory element in the vicinity. Captain Isaac Sears, an active, resourceful patriot came to the conclusion in November of this year 1775, that the only censorship which was applicable to this press was an exterminating process; whereupon he gathers a force of Connecticut men, who, proceeding to Westchester, capture the Reverend Sam- uel Seabury, Judge Jonathan Fowler, and "Lord" Nathaniel Underhill on the 22d, and, after burning a small British sloop at Mamaroneck, proceed on the following day to New York, where a force of "seventy-five men on horseback, with fixed bayonets," as a contemporary account relates, draw up before
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Rivington's printing office, and seize and carry away his types and other materials, thus placing it beyond his power to issue the mischievous publications with which he had been flooding the country. The Provincial Congress of New York, jealous of this so-called invasion of provincial rights, insists, in an official letter to Governor Trumbull, that Riv- ington's types be returned to "the Chairman of the General Committee of the City and County of New York"; to which the governor in decorous and courteous official form replies, declining to make it a state affair, and pointing out to his correspondents the fact that the ringleader is reported to be a New York man, and that "the proper resort for a private injury must be to the courts of law, which are the only juris- dictions that can take notice of violences of this kind." The "General Committee of the City and County of New York" had already gravely acted on this suggestion on the day of Sears' raid, by passing a resolution requiring him to appear to answer to the charge of forcibly entering Rivington's print- ing house; but no record can be found that he obeyed the summons. For two years from this time Rivington's press remained mute, until at length the British occupied New York, and he was once more enabled to ply his trade under their protection.
Of the three prisoners taken by Sears on his way to New York, Judge Fowler and Lord Underhill signed recanta- tions of certain protests they had made against the proceed- ings of the Continental Congress; and the Reverend (after- wards Bishop) Samuel Seabury, who was not of the recanting kind, addressed a long and able memorial to the General As- sembly of Connecticut, resulting in his release from custody after having been kept for about a month under guard at the house of a Mrs. Lyman of New Haven.
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From this time forward Captain Isaac Sears appears to have taken up his residence in Connecticut.
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CHAPTER IV THE YEAR OF INDEPENDENCE
I N this momentous year, 1776, we can see some of the advantages which Connecticut possessed from the very beginning of the revolutionary struggle. Even Rhode Island, with her similar character and form of government, was obliged first to suspend, and then to depose her Tory Governor, Joseph Wanton, so that it was not until November 1775 that she had reached the same po- litical position which Connecticut had occupied since the days of the Stamp Act. In Massachusetts, something like order was brought out of the chaos of the times, by resuming in July 1775 a form of government which had been so long interrupted by British control; and in New York the Tory element rendered it uncertain for a time whether British con- trol would prevail or not. In all the other colonies, with their varied conditions, difficulties of one kind and another had to be overcome. Among these thirteen colonies the only one which had a patriot governor was Connecticut; and thus the condition to which the Continental Congress was striving to bring the colonies existed from the beginning only in this commonwealth; a government by the people, administered by a governor and council who stood ready at all times to assert the rights of the people, and to resist oppression. In other colonies valuable time was consumed in adjusting their governments to the situation; but this colony was ready from the beginning for any emergency which the situation might bring about.
More than a year had now been spent in preparations for war and in actual warfare. The drain on the treasury of Connecticut, still suffering from the depletion of the French war, was severe, and her expenses were out of proportion to those of other colonies. During the year from May 1775 to June 1776, issues of provincial bills of credit were made to
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the exent of £260,000. The redemption of these bills was provided for, however, by laying taxes of from seven to eight pence on the pound, at or near the time when the bills were issued. It was found that fully £65,000 had been ex- pended during the year beyond the share of the colony, in connection with General Schuyler's expedition and other mat- ters. Application was made to Congress for this amount in the then new and attractive continental bills, which applica- tion was granted by sending in payment $210,000 at differ- ent times, after which continental money was apportioned to this colony as to others. By enactment of the General As- sembly, this money was made receivable for taxes. An en- actment was also made at a later date, which, while it speaks well for the patriotism of our legislators, appears, in view of the inevitable course of subsequent events, rather more hu- morous than otherwise. This was a law making it a penal offence to demand or take more than the face value of con- tinental money in exchange for coin or bullion, or to make any sales of property at a higher price in continental money than in money of any other kind.
The record of the session of the General Assembly in December 1775 bears the time-honored Latin heading desig- nating the year of the reign of the sovereign of England, and the acts of this session were published under the royal arms. This was Connecticut's last recognition of British sover- eignty. In the May session which followed, these devices are conspicuous by their absence ; and measures were taken to ex- clude His Majesty's name from all legal writs and other doc- uments, substituting therefor the name of the Governor and Company of the Colony of Connecticut-still a colony for a little longer, but no longer His Majesty's.
From these measures to a downright assertion of inde-
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pendence the step was a short one, if it can even be called a step. When, after a long debate, the Continental Congress on the 8th of June could only vote to submit the question of a declaration of independence to each colony separately, and before other colonies even had time to commence their wrangles on the subject, we find Connecticut first in instruct- ing her delegates. It was in these words that they were in- structed, on the 14th of June, 1776:
"Resolved unanimously by this Assembly: That the Dele- gates of this Colony in General Congress be and they are hereby instructed to propose to that respectable body, to de- clare the United American Colonies Free and Independent States, absolved from all allegiance to the King of Great Britain, and to give the assent of this Colony to such declara- tion when they shall judge it expedient and best, and to what- ever measures may be thought proper and necessary by the Congress for forming foreign alliances, or any plan of oper- ation for necessary and mutual defence."
Having passed this resolution, the General Assembly im- mediately proceeds to pass "An Act for raising two Battal- ions to join the Continental Army in Canada," followed by "An Act for raising seven Battalions to join the Continental Army in New York."
In connection with these acts, a proclamation is issued by Governor Trumbull on the 18th of this same June which, by no great straining of definition, has been popularly called Con- necticut's Declaration of Independence. It is a remarkable document, or certainly would be so if issued by a governor of this twentieth century; but we may well imagine that to the mind of the eighteenth century, the logical sequence of events which it recites, beginning with the creation and fall of man, and ending with a full exposure of the tyranny of George
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III., was impressive to the last degree. One politically cul- minating sentence must be quoted from it :
"Be exhorted to rise, therefore, to superior Exertions on this great Occasion; and let all that are able and necessary, show themselves ready in behalf of their injured and op- pressed Country, and come forth to the Help of the Lord against the Mighty, and convince the unrelenting Tyrant of Britain, that they are resolved to be FREE."
It is not surprising that, when the news of the passage of the Declaration of Independence by Congress reached Connecticut, whose General Assembly had already author- ized its delegates to promote it, and had endorsed the procla- mation just quoted, this news should be calmly received, with- out the burning of gunpowder which was needed for more serious purposes. The General Assembly had adjourned when the news was received, and though the proper treat- ment of the subject was discussed in the Council of Safety, that body preferred to leave it to the regular October ses- sion of the Assembly, when carefully worded resolves were recorded, approving the Declaration, and making of Con- necticut "a free and independent State," under the same form of government which had existed since the issue of the royal charter of 1662. No change, except in name, was required to make this commonwealth a free state, just as no change had been required to adjust her affairs to the situation which resulted in declaring independence.
To the first Continental Congress, Eliphalet Dyer, Silas Deane, and Roger Sherman were sent as delegates; and to the second Congress the delegates attending were Roger Sherman, Oliver Wolcott, and Samuel Huntington, all of whom signed the Declaration of Independence. These men were not orators, but it must be admitted that they were
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From the painting by Chappell.
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statesmen of a high order. To Roger Sherman is due the credit for an important step towards the organization of the Treasury Department, against opposition on the part of Ben- jamin Harrison, which was overcome by the support of John Adams, who seconded Sherman's motion for the appointment of a committee on accounts or claims. There is no doubt that in the early stages of the experimental legislation of this experimental body, the sound practical wisdom of all these Connecticut delegates did good service, even though they made no elaborate speeches which have lived in American literature. It should be remembered that in 1776, Roger Sherman was one of the committee which drafted the Decla- ration of Independence.
The reorganization of the Continental army, which be- came necessary as the short enlistments of 1775 expired, was speedily accomplished as far as Connecticut's quota was con- cerned. Five of the six regiments raised in April 1775 were reorganized at once, General Putnam's regiment being placed under the command of Colonel Benedict Arnold, and General Spencer's regiment under command of Colonel Sam- uel Wyllys, the other three remaining as before under com- mand of Colonels Jedediah Huntington, Samuel Holden Parsons, and Charles Webb. Two additional regiments were recruited under Colonels Charles Burrall and Samuel El- more, early in 1776, and another in May of the same year, under Colonel Andrew Ward, completing the quota of eight regiments. Although Arnold was appointed to the com- mand of General Putnam's regiment, he never assumed this command, being at Quebec at the time. The regiment was placed in command of Colonel John Durkee, of Stamp Act fame. The five reorganized regiments were present at the siege and evacuation of Boston, and were then ordered to
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New York, participating in many of the battles of the follow- ing trying campaign. Colonel Andrew Ward's regiment, re- cruited in May, joined Washington's forces, and continued with him during the retreat through New Jersey, being engaged in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. The regi- ments of Colonels Burrall and Elmore were sent to the Northern Department, where the former suffered seriously from small-pox.
These eight regiments which were adopted, or readopted, as continental, formed a comparatively small portion of the forces which Connecticut placed in the service during this eventful year. In addition to these were the two other or- ganizations known as the State Troops and the Militia. Of the former, we find more or less complete rosters of eighteen regiments, and of the latter, a force increased from twenty- two to thirty-three regiments during the year.
The State Troops appear to have been mustered at various times to meet various emergencies, for a longer or shorter period of service. Three regiments of these troops under Colonels Erastus Wolcott, James Wadsworth and John Douglass, appear to have filled the gap occasioned by the expired enlistments of the men who left the service in No- vember. These three regiments were in the field before Bos- ton from December, 1775, to February, 1776. Two regi- ments under Colonels David Waterbury and Andrew Ward were sent to New York in January 1776 for a short term of service under General Charles Lee, which will be more fully explained further on in our narrative. Of the other inde- pendent regiments of these State Troops, two, under Col- onels Samuel Mott and Heman Swift, served in the North- ern Department from June to November of this year; and four regiments under Colonels Samuel Whiting, Thaddeus
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Cook, Roger Enos, and John Ely performed a tour of ser- vice not clearly defined in the records, but understood to be at the western border of Connecticut and in Rhode Island. The remaining State Troops consisted of seven battalions, or reg- iments, constituting General James Wadsworth's brigade. The Colonels of these regiments were Gold Selleck Silliman, Fisher Gay, Comfort Sage, Samuel Selden, William Doug- lass, John Chester, and Philip Burr Bradley. This entire brigade saw active service at Long Island, through the re- treat at New York, and in the engagements which followed at Harlem Heights, White Plains and Fort Washington.
The militia, composed of men of the Alarm List, and oth- ers of military age, with certain exemptions, was by no means merely a home guard. Of this force twenty-three regiments were ordered to New York during the summer of 1776. A few of these were at Kip's Bay during the landing of the British at that point, and from all these raw recruits many entered the regular service later, to give a better account of themselves than in this unfortunate affair.
Of the promptness with which the forces needed in the emergencies of the campaign were provided and sent to the front, the following extracts from letters of Washington to Governor Trumbull bear the best testimony that can be fur- nished.
On the 16th of January, in asking for forces to fill the va- cancies occasioned by the short enlistments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire troops, Washington closes by saying :
"The great and constant attention, sir, which you have shown upon all occasions, to promote the publick cause, af- fords me the strongest assurance that your every exertion and interest will be employed to comply with these several requi- sitions."
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In a letter, replying to Governor Trumbull's letter of the 18th regarding reinforcements for Canada after the repulse at Quebec, he says :
"The early attention which you and your honorable council have paid to this important business, has anticipated my requi- sition, and claims, in a particular manner, the thanks of every well-wishing American."
On the 10th of June from New York;
"In this critical conjuncture of affairs, the experience I have had of your zeal and readiness to assist the common cause, induces me to request the most speedy and early suc- cor, that can be obtained from your colony, and that the militia may be forwarded, one battalion after another, as fast as they can possibly be raised * * "
After the arrival of the militia, Washington writes, on the 10th of August :
"I think you and your honorable Council of Safety highly deserving of the thanks of the States, for the measures you have adopted in order to give the most early and speedy suc- cor to this army; give me leave to return you mine in par- ticular."
The foregoing quotations are enough to show the temper and efficiency of the State at this time, but many more tributes from the great commander could be added if neces- sary.
An instance of the readiness with which Connecticut met the many and urgent calls upon her occurred early in Jan- uary, 1776. The need of military occupation of the city of New York at this time was particularly impressed upon Washington, partly from his own view of the situation; but in all probability, mainly from the enthusiasm of Captain Isaac Sears and from the representations of General Charles
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Lee, in whom there was at this time so much misplaced con- fidence. As no troops could be spared from Boston for the purpose of occupying and fortifying New York, it was found necessary to call upon Connecticut. Upon this call, two regi- ments of seven hundred and fifty men each were promptly recruited, under Colonels Andrew Ward and David Water- bury. They were employed only for a few weeks with Lord Stirling's New Jersey regiment, in building fortifi- cations on Brooklyn Heights and the river fronts of New York. The principal recorded result of the expedition ap- pears to be that General Lee was afforded an opportunity to indulge in gasconading to an extent which must have satis- fied even him for the time being, and that he was enabled to pose as a hero by being carried on a litter from Stamford to New York while suffering from an attack of gout. His- torians of half a century ago and earlier reverently quote a threat he is said to have made, that if the British should burn a single house in New York in consequence of his coming, he would "chain a hundred of their friends by the neck, and make that house their funeral pile."
Since it is an old maxim that we must give even the devil his due, it is but fair to add that the plan of fortifications which Lee laid out at this time was practically adopted on the arrival of the American army at New York after the evacuation of Boston. The movement on New York by the British, which Lee and Sears had represented to Washing- ton and Governor Trumbull as impending at this time, did not, as we know, occur until some seven months later.
The first move in this game of war which finally took New York out of the hands of the Americans was the battle of Long Island, a battle particularly important in Connecticut history for the reason that General Israel Putnam was the
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officer in command, and that three of our five continental reg- ments which were sent to New York from Boston were en- gaged in it, as were portions of Wadsworth's brigade of State Troops, which had been temporarily consolidated with portions of the State Militia.
Putnam was appointed by Washington to take command of the forces at Long Island, almost on the eve of the bat- tle. It was doubtless Washington's confidence in Putnam as an executive officer which caused him to make this appoint- ment, superseding General John Sullivan, who had been placed in temporary command during the illness of General Nathaniel Greene. At the time when Putnam assumed this command, he had at his disposal a force of about five thou- sand men, reinforced at the time of the battle to about seven thousand. The enemy, from the most reliable accounts, num- bered not less than twenty thousand, and had already landed three-fourths of this force at Gravesend when Putnam was placed in command. It must be remembered that the re- sponsibility which devolved upon him at this time was the faithful execution of the orders of Washington, who issued specific orders to him regarding the impending battle, in writing on the 25th, and in person on the 26th, when he "continued till evening."
It is no part of our purpose to enter into a military history or criticism of this battle. Some modern historians, in their comfortable arm-chairs, under the inspiration of that cheap faculty familiarly known as hindsight, believe they could have managed the whole affair much better than did Wash- ington, and are prone to lay a lion's share of the blame for the defeat on the broad but rather overloaded shoulders of Putnam. The fact is clearly to be seen, however, that he car- ried out Washington's orders with the utmost faithfulness
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and precision. These orders were to contest the advance of the British on the wooded heights commanding the passes to Brooklyn; and it was upon these same heights that the bat- tle was fought, and that the Americans yielded, after a stub- born resistance, to superior numbers. The regiment of Col- onel Jedediah Huntington suffered a large loss in this en- gagement. General Samuel Holden Parsons, with his regi- ment was also in the thick of the fight, as was Colonel Wyl- lys with his regiment.
In the masterly retreat from Brooklyn Heights, and the at- tempts which followed to resist the landing of the British at New York, we find much service of Connecticut forces. Af- ter a delay of more than a fortnight, Howe finally decided to make a landing at Kip's Bay-now the foot of Thirty-fourth Street. To oppose this landing, a force of raw Connecticut recruits under Colonel William Douglas was posted behind low breastworks, and upon this force the fire of five British frigates was directed, under cover of which fire, Sir Henry Clinton's division was landed in eighty-four boats. The raw and inexperienced forces under Douglas retired in some confusion, and are unjustly denounced by some historians for failing to resist an attack which it is doubtful if veterans would have withstood much better.
The retreat from New York to Harlem now began. We find Washington from his headquarters at Harlem, and Putnam from his headquarters at the lower part of New York, rushing to the scene, unable to rally the forces which had been ordered to support Douglas' men; Putnam riding post-haste to his command to conduct the famous retreat, which was so fortunately aided by the timely hospitality which Mrs. Robert Murray extended to General Howe and his staff.
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After the defeat at Long Island, a small body of picked men taken from various regiments, was organized for par- tisan service under command of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Knowlton, which body soon became known as Knowlton's Rangers, and was particularly distinguished in an engage- ment on the day following the landing of the British at New York. It is hardly too much to say that this band is to be credited with bringing on the brilliant little action known as the battle of Harlem Heights, greatly reviving the spirit of the retreating American army by giving them the exhilarat- ing sight of redcoats once more flying, with Americans in full pursuit. Knowlton, being a Connecticut man had such men as Nathan Hale of Coventry, Stephen Brown of Woodstock, Thomas Grosvenor of Pomfret, and Thomas U. Fosdick of New London among his leading officers, with many other Connecticut men in the ranks, or in lower official positions. The company consisted of about one hundred and twenty men at this time, who, in the early dawn of September 16th, moved out to ascertain the position of the enemy; engaged in a sharp skirmish with their outposts, but were finally com- pelled to retire for a short time before a force nearly four times their number. These brave men soon rallied, and with reinforcements turned the tide of battle, but with the sad result of the death of the brave Knowlton, who fell mortally wounded on the field. In general orders of the following day, Washington speaks of him as "the gallant and brave Colonel Knowlton, who would have been an honor to any country." We have already seen him at Bunker Hill, bravely posted at the rail fence, and beginning there a record of revo- lutionary service which was so brilliant and honorable that we feel that such men could ill be spared in these times of danger and defeat. To the men who bore him from the
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