A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 115

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188

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Commodore Hotham already appeared there with the reinforcements under his escort, so that in a short time the hostile army amount- ed to about twenty-four thousand men, Eng- lish, Hessians and Waldeckers. Several regi- ments of Hessian infantry were expected to arrive shortly, when the army would be swelled to the number of thirty-five thousand combat- ants, of the best troops of Europe, all abund- antly supplied with arms and ammunition, and manifesting an extreme ardor for the service of their king. The plan was, first to get pos- session of New York, which was deemed of most essential importance. Then, if General Carleton, after having passed, as was hoped, the lakes of Canada, could penetrate to the banks of the Hudson and descend this river at the same time that General Howe should ascend it, their junction would have the im- mediate effect of interrupting all communica- tion between the provinces of New England on the left bank, and those of the middle and south upon the right. While General Howe was seconded in his invasion of New York by

the twelve or thirteen thousand men coming from Canada under Governor Carleton, Gen- eral Clinton was to operate in the provinces of the south and to attack Charleston. The American troops being thus divided, and their generals surprised and pressed on so many sides at once, it was not doubted but that the British arms would soon obtain a complete triumph. But in executing this design they had counted too much on an admirable con- currence of a great number of parts, and had not taken into account the difficulties of the winds and seasons. Admiral Howe did not arrive until after Clinton's expedition to Charleston had totally miscarried. The army at Canada was entirely interrupted at the lakes. It was still, however, confidently expected that General Howe would be able alone to make a decisive campaign.

To resist this impending storm Congress had ordained the construction of rafts, gun- boats, galleys and floating batteries, for the defense of the port of New York and the mouth of the Hudson. They had also decreed that thirteen thousand of the provincial militia should join the army of Washington, who, be- ing seasonably apprized of the danger of New York, had made a movement into that quarter ; they also directed the organization of a corps of ten thousand men, destined to serve as a reserve in the provinces of the center. All the weakest posts had been carefully intrenched and furnished with artillery. A strong de- tachment occupied Long Island, to prevent the English from landing there, or to repulse them if they should effect a debarkation. But the army of Congress was very far from having all the necessary means to support the burden of so terrible a war. It wanted arms, and it was wasted by diseases. The reiterated in- stances of the commander-in-chief had drawn into his camp the militia of the neighboring provinces, and some regular regiments from Maryland, from Pennsylvania and from New England, which had swelled his army to the number of twenty-seven thousand men ; but a fourth of these troops were composed of in-

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valids, and scarcely was another fourth fur- nished with arms.

The American army, such as it was, oc- cupied the positions most suitable to cover the menaced points. The corps which had been stationed on Long Island was commanded by Major-General Greene, who, on account of sickness, was afterwards succeeded by General Sullivan. The main body of the army en- camped on the island of New York, which, it appeared, was destined to receive the first blows of the English.

Two feeble detachments guarded Gov- ernor's Island and the point of Paulus' Hook. The militia of the province, commanded by the American General Clinton, were posted upon the banks of the sound, where they oc- cupied the two Chesters, East and West, and New Rochelle. For it was to be feared that the enemy, landing in force upon the north shore of the sound, might penetrate to Kings- bridge, and thus entirely lock up all the Amer- can troops on the island of New York. Lord Howe made some overtures of peace upon terms of submission to the royal clemency, which, resulting in nothing, decided the British general to attack Long Island. "According- ly," says Botta, "on the 22d of August the fleet approached the Narrows; all the troops found an easy and secure landing-place be- tween the villages of Gravesend and New Utrecht, where they debarked without meet- ing any resistance on the part of the Ameri- cans. A great part of the American army, under the command of General Putnam, en- camped at Brooklyn in a part of the island it- self, which forms a sort of a peninsula. He had strongly fortified the entrance of it with moats and intrenchments ; his left wing rested upon the Wallabout bay, and his right was covered by a marsh contiguous to Gowanus' Cove. Behind him he had Governor's Island and the arm of the sea which separates Long Island from the Island of New York, and which gave him a direct communication with the city, where the other part of the army was stationed under Washington himself. The

commander-in-chief, perceiving the battle was approaching, continually exhorted his men to keep their ranks and summon all their courage ; he reminded them that in their valor rested the only hope that remained to American liberty ; that upon their resistance depended the preser- vation or the pillage of their property by bar- barbians; that they were about to combat in defense of their parents, their wives and their children, from the outrages of a licentious sol- diery; that the eyes of America were fixed upon her champions, and expected from their success on this day either safety or total de- struction."

The English having effected their landing marched rapidly forward. The two armies were separated by a chain of hills covered with woods, called the heights, and which, running from west to east, divide the island into two parts. They are only approachable upon three points, one of which is near the Narrows, the road leading to that of the center passes the village of Flatbush, and the third is approached far to the right by the route of another village called Flatlands. Upon the summit of the hills is found a road, which follows the length of the range, and leads from Bedford to Ja- maica, which is intersected by the two roads last described; these ways are all interrupted by precipices and by excessively difficult and narrow defiles.

The American general, wishing to arrest the enemy upon these heights, had carefully. furnished them with troops, so that, if all had done their duty, the English would not have been able to force the passage without extreme difficulty and danger. The posts were so fre- quent upon the road from Bedford to Jamaica that it was easy to transmit, from one of these points to the other, the most prompt intelli- gence of what passed upon the three routes. Colonel Miles, with his battalion, was to guard the road of Flatland, and to scour it contin- ually with his scouts, as well as that of Ja- maica, in order to reconnoiter the movements of the enemy. Meanwhile the British army pressed forward, its left wing being to the

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north and its right to the south; the village of Flatbush was found in its center. The Hcs- sians, commanded by General Heister, formed the main body ; the English, under Major-Gen- eral Grant, the left, and the other corps, con- ducted by General Clinton and the two lords, Percy and Cornwallis, composed the right. In this wing the British generals had placed their principal hope of success ; they directed it upon Flatland. Their plan was, that while the corps of General Grant and the Hessians of General Heister should disquiet the enemy upon the two first defiles, the left wing, taking a circuit, should march through Flatland, and en- deavor to seize the point of intersection of this road with that of Jamaica, and then, rapidly descending into the plain which extends at the foot of the heights upon the other side, should fall upon the Americans in flank and rear. The English hoped, that as this post was tlie most distant from the center of the army, the advanced guards would be found more feeble there, and perhaps more negligent; finally, they calculated that, in all events, the Amer- icans would not be able to defend it against a force so superior. This right wing of the English was the most numerous and entirely composed of select troops.

The evening of the 26th of August, Gen- eral Clinton commanded the vanguard, which consisted in light infantry; Lord Percy the center, where were found the grenadiers, the artillery and the cavalry; and Cornwallis, the rearguard, followed by the baggage, some regiments of infantry and of heavy artillery ; all this part of the English army put itself in motion with admirable order and silence, and leaving Flatland, traversed the country called New Lots. Colonel Miles, who this night per- formed his service with little exactness, did not perceive the approach of the enemy; so that two hours before day the English were already arrived within a half mile of the road to Ja- maica, upon the heights. Then General Clin- ton halted and prepared himself for the at- tack. He had met one of the enemy's patrols and made him prisoner. General Sullivan, who

commanded all the troops in advance of the camp of Brooklyn, had no advice of what passed in this quarter. He neglected to send out fresh scouts; perhaps he supposed the English would direct their principal efforts against his right wing, as being the nearest to them.

General Clinton learning from his prisoners that the road to Jamaica was not guarded, has- tened to avail himself of the circumstance and occupied it by a rapid movement. Without loss of time he immediately bore to liis left towards Bedford and seized an important de- file, which the American generals had left un- guarded. From this moment the success of the day was decided in favor of the English. Lord Percy came up with his corps, and the entire column descended by the village of Bed- ford from the heights into the plain which lay between the hills and the camp of the Americans. During this time General Grant, in order to amuse the enemy and divert his at- tention from the events which took place upon the route of Flatland, endeavored to disquiet him upon his right; accordingly, as if he in- tended to force the defile which led to it, he had put himself in motion about midnight and attacked the militia of New York and of Penn- sylvania, who guarded it. They at first gave ground; but General Parsons being arrived and having occupied an eminence, he renewed the combat and maintained his position till Brigadier-General Lord Stirling came to his assistance with fifteen hundred men. The action became extremely animated and fortune favored neither the one side nor the other. The Hessians, on their part, had attacked the center at break of day, and the Americans, commanded by General Sullivan in person, valiantly sustained their efforts. At the same time the English ships, after having made sev- eral movements, opened a very brisk cannonade against a battery established in the little isl- and of Red Hook, upon the right flank of the Americans, who combatted against General Grant. This also was a diversion, the object of which was to prevent them from attending

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to what passed in the center and on the left. The Americans defended themselves, however, with extreme gallantry, ignorant that so much valor was exerted in vain, since victory was already in the hands of the enemy. General Clinton being descended into the plain, fell upon the left flank of the center, which was engaged with the Hessians. He had previous- ly detached a small corps, in order to intercept the Americans.

As soon as the appearance of the English light infantry apprized them of their danger, they sounded the retreat and retired in good order towards their camp, bringing off their artillery. But they soon fell in with the party of royal troops which had occupied the ground on their rear, and who now charged them with fury ; they were compelled to throw themselves into the neighboring woods, where they met again with the Hessians, who repulsed them upon the English; and thus the Americans were driven several times by the one against the other with great loss. They continued for some time in this desperate situation, till at length several regiments, animated by an heroic valor, opened their way through the midst of the enemy and gained the camp of General Putnam; others escaped through tlie woods. The inequality of the ground, the great numbers of positions which it offered, and the disorder which prevailed throughout the line, were the cause that for several hours divers partial combats were maintained, in which many of the Americans fell.

Their left wing and center being dis- comfited, the English, desirous of a complete victory, made a rapid movement against the rear of the right wing, which, in ignorance of the misfortune which had befallen the other corps, was engaged with General Grant. Fin- ally, having received the intelligence, they re- tired. But, encountering the English, who cut off their retreat, a part of the soldiers took shelter in the woods; others endeavored to make their way through the marshes of Gowan's Cove, but here many were drowned in the waters or perished in the mud; a very

small number only escaped the hot pursuit of the victors and reached camp in safety. The total loss of the Americans in this battle was estimated at more than three thousand men in killed, wounded and prisoners. Among the last were found General Sullivan and Briga- dier-General Lord Stirling. Almost the en- tire regiment of Maryland, consisting of young men of the best families in that province, was cut to pieces. Six pieces of cannon fell into the power of the victors. The loss of the English was very inconsiderable; in killed, wounded and prisoners it did not amount to four hundred men.

The enemy encamped in front of the Amer- ican lines, and on the succeeding night broke ground within six hundred yards of a redoubt on the left and threw up a breast-work on the Wallabout heights, upon the Debevoice farm, commenced firing on Fort Putnam and recon- noitred the American forces. The Americans were here prepared to receive them, and orders issued to the men to reserve their fire till they could see the eyes of the enemy. A few of the British officers reconnoitred the position, and one, on coming near, was shot by William Van Cotts, of Bushwick. The same afternoon Cap- tain Rutgers, brother of the late Colonel Rutgers, also fell. Several other British troops were killed, and the column which had incau- tiously advanced, fell back beyond the range of the American fire. In this critical state of the American army on Long Island ; in front a nu- merous and victorious enemy with a formidable train of artillery, the fleet indicating an inten- tion of forcing a passage up the East river; the troops lying without shelter from the heavy rains, fatigued and dispirited, General Wash- ington determined to withdraw the army from the island, and this difficult movement was effected with great skill and judgment, and witl. complete success. The retreat was to have commenced at eight o'clock in the even- ing of the 29th, but a strong north-east wind and a rapid tide caused a delay of several hours, a southwest wind springing up at eleven essen- tially facilitated its passage from the island

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

to the city, and a thick fog hanging over Long Island toward morning concealed its move- ments from the enemy, who were so near that the sound of their pick-axes and shovels were distinctly heard by the Americans. General Washington, as far as possible, inspected everything from the commencement of the action on the morning of the 27th till the troops were safely across the river ; he never closed his eyes and was almost constantly on horseback. After this the British and their allies, the Tories and refugees, had possession of Long Island, and many distressing scenes occurred, which were never made public and can therefore never be known. The Whigs who had been at all active in behalf of inde- pendence were exiled from their homes and their dwellings were objects of indiscriminate plunder. Such as could be taken, were incar- cerated in the church of New Utrecht and Flatlands, while royalists, by wearing a red badge in their hats, were protected and en- couraged. It is believed that had Lord Howe availed himself of the advantage he possessed by passing his ships up the river between Brooklyn and New York, the whole American army must have been almost inevitably cap- tured or annihilated. General Washington saw but too plainly the policy that might have been pursued and wisely resolved rather to abandon the island than attempt to retain it at the risk of sacrificing his army.

The unfortunate issue of the battle of Long Island was doubtless to be ascribed, in part, to the illness of General Greene. He had su- perintended the erection of the works and be- come thoroughly acquainted with the ground. In the hope of his recovery, Washington de- ferred sending over a successor till the urgency of affairs made it absolutely necessary, and then General Putnam took the command, with- out any previous knowledge of the posts which had been fortified beyond the lines, or of the places by which the enemy could make their approach, nor had he time to acquire this knowledge before the action. The consequence was, that, although he was the commander on

the day of the battle, he never went beyond the lines at Brooklyn, and could give no other orders than for sending out troops to meet the enemy at different points. The following is a letter to Congress, describing the events of the day, by Colonel Harrison, secretary to the com- mander-in-chief :

NEW YORK, 8 o'clock P. M., 27th August, 1776.

Sir : I this minute returned from our lines on Long Island, where I left his Excellency the General. From him I have it in command to inform Congress, that yesterday he went there and continued till evening, when, from the enemy's having landed a considerable part of their forces, and from many of their move- ments there was reason to apprehend that they would make in a little time a general attack. As they would have a wood to pass through before they could approach the lines it was thought expedient to place a number of men there on different roads leading from where they were stationed, in order to harass and annoy them in their march. This being done, early this morning a sharp engagement ensued between the enemy and our detachments, which, being unequal to the force they had to contend with, have sustained a considerable loss, at least many of our men are missing. Among those who have not returned are Gen- eral Sullivan and Lord Stirling. The enemy's loss is not known certainly, but we are told by such of our troops as were in the engage- ment, and have come in, that they had many killed and wounded. Our party brought off a lieutenant, sergeant and corporal, with twen- ty privates, prisoners.

While these detachments were engaged, a column of the enemy descended from the woods, and marched towards the center of our lines with a design to make an impression, but were repulsed. This evening they appeared very numerous about the skirts of the woods, where they have pitched several tents; and his Excellency inclines to think they mean to attack and force us from our lines by way of regular approaches, rather than in any other manner. To-day five ships of the line came up towards the town, where they seemed de- sirous of getting, as they turned a long time against an unfavorable wind: and, on my re- turn this evening, I found a deserter from the Twenty-third Regiment, who informed me that they design, as soon as the wind will permit

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them to come up, to give us a severe can- nonade, and to silence our batteries if possible.

I have the honor to be, in great haste, Sir, . of fire between those troops and our riflemen, your most obedient.

ROBERT H. HARRISON.

As the two generals who commanded the engagement were taken prisoners, no detailed official account of the action was ever reported to the commander-in-chief. The following letter from Lord Stirling, and extracts from General Sullivan's, contain a few particulars not hitherto published. Lord Stirling was a prisoner on board Lord Howe's ship when he wrote:

Lord Stirling to General Washington. EAGLE, 29 August, 1776. My Dear General :

I have now an opportunity of informing you of what has happened to me since I had the pleasure of seeing you. About three o'clock in the morning of the 27th I was called up and informed by General Putnam that the enemy were advancing by the road from Flat- bush to the Red Lion, and he ordered me to march with the two regiments nearest at hand to meet them. These happened to be Haslet's and Smallwood's, with which I accordingly marched, and was on the road to the Narrows just as the daylight began to appear. We pro- ceeded to within about half a mile of the Red Lion, and there met Colonel Atlee with his regiment, who informed me that the enemy were in sight; indeed, I then saw their front between us and the Red Lion. I desired Col- onel Atlee to place his regiment on the left of the road, and to wait their coming up, while I went to form the two regiments I had brought with me along the ridge from the road up to a piece of wood on the top of the hill. This was done instantly on very advantageous ground.

Our opponents advanced and were fired upon in the road by Atlee's regiment, who, after two or three rounds, retreated to the wood on my left and there formed. By this time Kichline's riflemen arrived; part of them I placed along a hedge under the front of the hill, and the rest in the front of the wood. The troops opposed to me were two brigades of four regiments each, under the command of General Grant, who advanced their light troops to within one hundred and fifty yards of our right front, and took possession of an orchard

there, and some hedges, which extended to- wards our left. This brought on an exchange

which continued. for about two hours and then ceased by those light troops retiring to their main body. In the meantime Captain Çar- penter brought up two field-pieces, which were placed on the side of the hill so as to command the road and the only approach for some hundred yards. On the part of General Grant there were two field-pieces. One how- itzer advanced within three hundred yards of the front of our right, and a like detachment of artillery to the front of our left. On a ris- ing ground, at about six hundred yards' dis- tance, one of their brigades formed in two. lines opposite to our right, and the other ex- tended in one line to the top of the hills, in the front of our left.

In this position we stood cannonading each other till near eleven o'clock, when I found that General Howe, with the main body of the army, was between me and our lines, and I saw that the only chance of escaping being all made prisoners was to pass the creek near the Yellow Mills, and, in order to render this the more practicable, I found it absolutely necessary to attack the body of troops com- manded by Lord Cornwallis, posted at the house near the Upper Mills. This I instantly did, with about half of Smallwood's regiment ; first ordering all other troops to make the best of their way through the creek. We contin- ued the attack for a considerable time, the men having been rallied, and the attack renewed five or six several times, and we were on the point of driving Lord Cornwallis from his sta- tion, but large reinforcements arriving, ren- dered it impossible to do more than provide for safety. I endeavored to get in between that house and Fort Box, but, on attempting it, I found a considerable body of troops in my front, and several in pursuit of me on the right and left, and a constant firing on me. I immediately turned the point of a hill, which covered me from their fire, and was soon out of the reach of my pursuers. I found that it would be in vain to attempt to make my escape, and therefore went to surrender myself to General de Heister, commander-in-chief of the Hessians. WM. STIRLING.

General Sullivan to the President of Congress.

WHITEMARSH, 25 October, 1777.

I know it has been generally reported that I commanded on Long Island when the action

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

happened there. This is by no means true. General Putnam had taken the command from me four days before the action. Lord Stirling commanded the main body without the lines. I was to have commanded under General Put- nam within the lines. I was uneasy about a road, though which I had often foretold that the enemy would come, but could not persuade others to be of my opinion. I went to the hill near Flatbush to reconnoiter, and with a picket of four hundred men was surrounded by the enemy, who had advanced by the very road I had foretold, and which I had paid horsemen fifty dollars for patrolling by night while I had the command, as I had no foot for the pur- pose.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 115

Author: Ross, Peter. cn Publication date: 1902 Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1188

Author: Ross, Peter. cn
Publication date: 1902
Publisher: New York ; Chicago : The Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1188