A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 35

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

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On the part of the British all these move- ments were merely feints to engage the at- tention of the Continentals while the main movement was in progress. All through the night Sir Henry Clinton, with a force of some of the best and most experienced of the Brit- ish troops, had been marching by a most cir- cuitous route past the chain of defenses with

the view of seizing what was reported to them as being a slimly guarded pass through the Bedford Hills, and so turn the flank of the whole line of defense. Until Grant and the other commanders heard the guns announcing that the movement had been successfully car- ried out and that the Continentals were be- tween two fires, they simply held their oppo- nents in check. The British sped on from Flat- lands on their journey without noise and, with a British sympathizer belonging to the local- ity as a guide, came within a mile of their ob- jective point before daybreak. Then their ad- vance troops surrounded an American Patriot and discovered that the Bedford Pass, for which they were making, was practically un- guarded, and that no troops were around that important point except a few patrolling squads who had to guard quite an extensive section of that front. Clinton at once pushed forward sufficient light infantry to take possession of the pass and to hold it. This was easily done and the prime strategic move of the fight had been accomplished without even attracting the attention of the enemy. By daybreak the British army was in full possession of the pass and its surrounding heights, and the soldiers halted for breakfast and to enjoy a brief period of rest before entering upon the second stage of the movement.

The army pursued its journey to Bedford village, on what was known as the Jamaica' road, and it was not until it had reached that spot that Col. Miles, the officer who seems to have been responsible for the patrolling of that section of the defensive works, was aware of the presence of the foe within the lines, and he arrived near enough to see them only to find that most of the force had passed him and he was virtually cut off from his own support. But firing was at once begun and the disjointed commands of Col. Wyllys, Col. Miles and Col. Brodhead did their best to oppose the advance. But that at best was of very small account: its main result as the noise of the guns reached the different points

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THE BATTLE OF BROOKLYN.

along the line of defense was to announce to the defending forces that they had actually been caught in a trap.

The British movement was then directed against General Sullivan's position, and that soldier soon found himself between two fires, for the Hessians, hearing the guns, knew that Clinton had accomplished his purpose and was on the other side of that natural fortification. Count Donop's Hessian regiment made an attack on the redoubt, with De Heister's en- tire remaining force supporting the advance at short distance. Sullivan, seeing how hope- less was his position, gave orders for a re- treat to the main American lines, and the Hessians were soon in full possession of the pass. But Sullivan's order was given too late, and his battalions were met by Clinton's infantry and cavalry and the retreat turned into a rout. The British in front and the Hessians in the rear attacked the dispirited and disheartened Continentals with the utmost severity, and it is said the Hessians showed no quarter. Commands were quickly broken up in this terrible ordeal, and all trace of discipline was lost. Some managed to cut their way through weak spots in the advancing column to the American lines, while others contrived to escape from the scene of carnage by accident or luck, whatever it may be called. It is difficult to harmonize all the details which have come to us of that scene of carn- age or to clearly understand why the retreat should have turned out so disastrously that the pursuit was kept up even to within rifle- shot of the inner chain of forts, such as Greene and Putnam. The Americans, wherever they had a chance, exhibited marked courage and made a gallant fight,-a fight in every way worthy of the splendid cause with which their lives were bound up; but individual or even battalion feats of heroism could not accom- plish much when all around was confusion, all around was despair, and escape seemed cut off on every side. Sullivan, whose shortcom- ings as a commander brought about the rout, distinguished himself by his bravery

while there was any hope and then tried to escape from the field. For a time he man- aged to conceal himself, but he was finally captured by three Hessian troopers and con- ducted within the British lines.

In the meantime Stirling was rendering a a much more gallant and soldierly account of himself than Sullivan. He, too, found him- self caught between two fires. The sound of the guns on Sullivan's front gave him no- tice of the movement and it is said that Sul- livan sent him an order to retreat within the inner lines as soon as he realized how the outer defenses had been turned. But that order never reached its destination. The sound of the approaching guns was heard by Grant quite as soon as Stirling, but the British general at once knew their full significance and prepared to carry out the remainder of the task allotted to him. His previous inac- tivity had been mistaken by some of the raw Continental troops for temerity; but that notion was soon dissipated. When the proper moment came, Grant's troops advanced and cut off the commands of Col. Atlee and Col. Parsons from the main body, and this sudden display of aggressiveness with the nearer and nearer noise of the guns in his rear warned Stirling that retreat had become a necessity. Leaving a part of his force to impede, at least, the British advance, he hoped to reach the inner line of fortification without interruption by leaving the beaten way, crossing a creek fordable at low water, and that plan he put into execution. He had not advanced far, however, when he was confronted by a force under Cornwallis. Nothing remained but fight or capitulation, and the Americans ac- cepted the former. It was a splendid con- flict, carried on on both sides with indomitable courage and infinite resource. The Maryland troops especially distinguished themselves, and for a brief interval it seemed as if Cornwallis would be compelled to withdraw his forces, leaving the Americans' passage clear ; but re- inforcements, coming up, nearly surrounded the Patriots and they were in much the same

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

sort of a trap which had enmeshed Sullivan's troops earlier in the day. Retreat was or- dered all along the line, but the enemy con- stantly increased in numbers. Some of Stir- ling's force managed to enter the American lines in form, early in the engagement, but lat- terly those who thus reached safety did so in disjointed numbers. Stirling himself fought throughout the conflict with the most devoted heroism, cheered and encouraged his men at all points, and it was only when further resistance seemed absolutely useless, when there was no doubt of the issue of the day, that he surrendered himself as a prisoner.

With the collapse of Stirling's brigade the battle was past. Early in the afternoon Washington crossed over to Brooklyn and witnessed the defeat, unable, with the raw militia remaining in the forts, to offer any resistance. He quickly made up his mind, as soon as he learned of the success of Clinton's movement, that the day was lost, and devoted himself to staying the victors at the lines guarded by the chain of forts. The battle of Stirling's troops was watched by him with particular solicitude, as it seemed impossible that any of that brave body of men could ever return to his lines. That so many did was the only relieving feature in a day that was undoubtedly one of disaster. General Waslı- ington passed an anxious day and night, ex- pecting every moment that the enemy, flushed with success, would at once turn against the chain of forts, and he fully realized their

weakness. This the British did not do, their commanders evidently thinking enough had been gained for one day; but in spite of this inaction no one knew better than Washing- ton that the main defense of Brooklyn had been wiped out, that Long Island was virtu- ally completely in the hands of the British and that the army of the defenders was in a most critical position.

It is difficult to estimate the losses sus- tained by both armies during the day, not alone on account of the inaccuracy with which such details were then kept and the consequent unreliable nature of even official reports, but on account of the widely varying estimates made by those engaged in the fight and the re- markable figures deduced by many of the later historians of the battle. The British com- mander in chief estimated his loss in killed and wounded at 367. The Americans' loss has been placed at under 200, while some 800 were held as prisoners. These figures of casualties bear out to a degree Washington's assertion that the British "suffered a loss in killed and wounded equal to that inflicted upon the Americans." But it is difficult to accept Washington's statement as being anything more than an off-hand calculation, made with- out being in full possession of the facts or figures. Field in his sketch of the battle esti- mates that the American loss in killed and wounded and prisoners was not far front 2,000, and probably that is as correct an esti- mate as can now be made.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND-A STRATEGIC TRIUMPH.

F in point of strategy the British proved themselves in the battle of August 27th as the superiors of their op- ponents, the retreat of the American forces from Long Island on the night of the 29th and morning of the 30th amply demon- strated the fact that there was certainly one man at the head of the Continentals who was at least their equal in that regard. While the battle of Brooklyn was a defeat, a disastrous defeat, the retreat was a masterly movement and a moral triumph. Of course, in its suc- cess General Washington was aided by nature, inasmuch as a dense fog concealed his move- ments ; but many noted commanders meet 11s in the procession of history who did not un- derstand or appreciate the value of such aid when offered them.

In all the story of the Revolutionary strug- gle there was not a more disheartening time than the twenty-four hours which followed the night of August 27th. Had the British plans been fully carried into effect the Con- tinental leaders would have been left without an army and the entire story of the struggle for liberty been more prolonged than it was, even supposing that it could then have sur- vived such a blow as the loss of the 9,000 or more troops which on the morning of the 28th made up the inner line of defense around Brooklyn. There is no doubt that the capture of these patriots was the final point in the British movement, and had the latter pressed their advantage without cessation, as the troops themselves desired, there seems little

doubt that the result would have been at- tained; but the fatuity which so often dis- tinguished the British Generals throughout the Revolutionary War in this instance aided the Patriots just as much as did the weather.

Washington, who was now in direct com- mand and expected every moment an attack upon his lines, seems to have spent most of the night following the battle in passing over the works and personally inspecting every point. A call was sent out for reinforcements and in the early hours some of the troops which had been assigned to guard King's Bridge and the upper part of Manhattan ar- rived with General Mifflin, some 800 men in all. Then 1.300 Massachusetts soldiers, main- ly fishermen, arrived under Colonel Glover, and their appearance seems to have infused a new spirit of hope in the hearts, of the Patriots. Troops in New Jersey under Gen- eral Mercer were ordered with all haste to march to New York, and there virtually to await further orders-orders which could only be formulated as events unfolded them- selves. Even with the reinforcements Wash- ington's position was a most critical one. True, his lines were strong and well chosen, but in front of him lay a well disciplined, well fed and well officered army of regular troops, flushed with success, while the majority of his force of 9,000 (or 9,500 as the highest estimate gives it) was an untrained mass, poorly armed, officered by men of little ex- perience and disheartened by defeat. The weather on the 28th was wet and disagreeable

210

HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

and so it continued to be on the 29th, and the dull, cheerless sky seemed to add to the depression of the troops and to emphasize thie gloom of their position.

Possibly the weather and an idea that the Continental position could be captured at any time led the British commanders to delay the final part of their work. All through the 28th there were skirmishes along the entire line. In the afternoon the British began dig- ging trenches and raising earthworks within

a dense fog, and this continued all through the day. As a result, inactivity again pre- vailed in the British camp, while in the Amer- ican lines the vigilance was not withdrawn for a moment. That vigilance saved the army. In the forenoon General Mifflin, in company with General Reed, Adjutant General, visited the redoubt on Red Hook. While there the fog lifted a little over the harbor and the Amer- ican officers saw the British fleet at anchor, but noticed that an unusual degree of com-

THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND, AUGUST 29, 1776.

500 yards of the American position, evidently with a view of bringing up their entire force there and making a decisive attack on the de- fences. Nothing shows the weakness of Washington's forces clearer than the fact that he permitted this proceeding to go on un- molested, and when night fell the contending armies were thus brought close together with the apparent certainty that the next day would develop important events.

But the morning of the 29th found the island, or at least that portion of it which formed the scene of operations, covered withi

munication was passing between the vessels and the shore. It seemed as though some important movement was about to commence and they concluded it to be a descent upon New York by the East River, which could easily be accomplished as soon as the fog was dissipated, if the wind continued to hold as it then did.

This was the movement regarding which Washington was most concerned from the beginning. Could the British vessels silence the paltry battery at Red Hook and, passing the fort at the Battery, sail into the East

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THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND.

River and lie off the shore of Long Island, his entire force would be caught in a trap from which there seemed no possible hope of escape. In the afternoon the rain descended incessantly, and in places the Patriots had to "stand up to their middles in water." Cook- ing was out of the question and the men were compelled to take up with the unaccustomed fare of hard biscuits and raw pork. "We had no tents to screen us from the pitiless pelt- ing, nor if we had them would it have con1- ported with the incessant vigilance required to have availed ourselves of them."

These extracts from letters written by par- ticipants in the fight in the American lines show how illy prepared the latter would have been had the British engaged them in any de- termined assault. Indeed, although in many of the skirmishes the enemy were beaten back, it was quite plain to Washington that on the whole the British were steadily strengthening their position all along the line. Indeed, on the morning of the 29th they held, after hard fighting and several repulses, a breastwork only about 150 rods from Fort Putnam.

This test of strength had forced Washing- ton to the conclusion that the line, even under the most favorable conditions possible, could not be held, and the news brought by General Mifflin showed him the immediate danger of the British fleet getting between him and his only avenue of escape, that by way of New York. At first it seems that Washington really thought he might hold the lines, but events had carried him to a different con- clusion and he hoped to use the fog as a means of aiding in the scheme he had now thought out of carrying his entire force away to a position whence they could carry on the war with greater chances of success. Hastily summoning a council of war to meet at the residence of Philip Livingston on Hicks street, near Joralemon street, he laid his plan before the assembled officers. These included Major Generals Putnam and Spencer, and Brigadier Generals Mifflin, McDougall, Parsons, Scott, Wadsworth and Fellows. The proposition to

retreat was presented to the auditors by Gen- eral Mifflin, with the following array of rea- sons :

I. The defeat on the 27th.

2. The loss in officers and men on that occasion had discouraged the troops.

3. The rain had injured the arms and ammunition and the men were so worn out by privation that they could not do effective work on the defenses.

4. The enemy were endeavoring to get control of the East River.

5. There were no obstructions sunk be- tween Long and Governor's Islands to pre- vent the passage of ships.

6. The actual weakness of the lines. The redoubts were strong, but the general works were weak, being abattised with brush in most places.

7. The divided state of the army made a defense precarious.

8. Several British men of war had made their way into Flushing Bay from the Sound and with their assistance the enemy could land a force in Westchester county and gain the American rear near King's Bridge.

After a long discussion, in which the idea of retreat was at first apparently scouted by many of the Generals, the reasons above briefly stated were fully considered, with the result that the decision was finally unanimous in favor of evacuating Long Island.

The fact, however, seems to be that from the time he received General Mifflin's report of the seeming movement of the British fleet, Washington determined upon effecting a re- treat, deeming that the movement had became imperative. Even while the council was in

*There is some uncertainty as to where this council was held. The authority for its taking place in the Liv- ingston house is a letter written by General John Morin Scott, who was present, to John Jay, dated Sept. 6, 1776. Some antiquaries have indicated the old Dutch Church as the scene of the meeting while others have asserted that the old Pierrepont mansion, which stood on what is now the line of Montague street. General Scott's evi- dence, however, seems to settle the question.

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HISTORY OF LONG ISLAND.

session preparations for the movement had begun. Every boat possible was ordered to the lower portion of the East River and As- sistant Quartermaster Hughes at New York was instructed to "impress every kind of water craft from Hell Gate on the Sound to Spuyten Duyvil creek that could be kept afloat and that had either sails or oars, and have them all in the east harbor of the city by dark." These orders were so well carried out that by nightfall quite a flotilla lay off the Brooklyn shore in readiness to approach it. An order was given about 6 o'clock for the troops to get in readiness for a night attack, as it was not deemed prudent to trust to anything that might cause word of the evacuation to reach the enemy, for there were, it was feared, many spies within the lines. The weary and be- draggled troopers were astonished, even dis- mayed, at the order, but all responded with a readiness that was worthy of veterans. This device enabled the commander to enjoin ab- solute silence on the part of the troops and to make it easy to transfer portions from one post seemingly to another, without question. Another ruse was that reinforcements were expected from New Jersey and that an equal number of those who had been fighting since the landing of the British would be trans- ferred to New Jersey in their place. By 7 o'clock all the troops were ordered to parade with arms and accoutrements in front of their encampments, leaving on active duty only those who were manning the forts and guard- ing the lines. When darkness fell the move- ment commenced, and as the night was par- ticularly gloomy everything favored the scheme and a splendid beginning was made.

The militia and raw troops were the first to cross at what is now Fulton Ferry, and General McDougall superintended the de- parture. About 9 o'clock the rain fell in tor- rents and the wind changed, making it im- possible to use sails, and only row-boats could be utilized. At this rate it was only a mat- ter of calculation to know that the troops

could not get away before daylight. Mc- Dougall dispatched an aide to find Washing- ton and inform him of the trouble, but was unable to locate him and returned without the chief. About II o'clock the wind took another change, a most fortunate one, and permitted every sort of craft to be pushed into the service. No time was now to be lost and some of the smaller boats were loaded down to within three inches of the water. But no accident occurred and each vessel delivered its human cargo safe in Manhattan.

The most awkward blunder occurred on the forts. General Mifflin, at his own request, had been assigned to cover the retreat, and the troops in his division were accordingly to remain on the lines to the last. About 2 o'clock in the morning one of Washington's aides mistakenly carried a message to Mifflin to withdraw, and, gathering his troops to- gether, that hero left the lines and marched his men down the main road to the ferry. On their way they were met by Washing- ton, who expressed the utmost dismay and declared unless the division marched back and remained on the lines the entire movement would fail. Without even a murmur of dis- sent the troops returned to their posts and awaited the call calmly, although they ex- pected that it would be daylight before their turn should come, and they well knew that as soon as the enemy discovered the condition of things their position would be a most perilous one. The order for their retreat was not given until the sound of shovel and pick- axe showed that the British were already at work on their entrenchments. Fortunately the fog was particularly dense at that time and enveloped the whole of the scene of op- erations, and so the gallant reserves silently left the lines and got down to the ferry in safety. Then they were joined by Washing- ton and one of the last boats carried across to. New York that intrepid hero, the Father of the Nation.

One of the British patrols discovered the-

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THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND.

empty lines not very long after Mifflin's troops had left, but the report was hardly credited at first, and by the time it was con- firmed most of the American force. with the ex- ception of four stragglers who were captured, as they deserved to be, was safe on Manhattan with the open country behind. Every detail was carried on in the most masterly manner and even many of the American troops on landing were unaware that they had taken part in a wholesale evacuation and imagined they were only part of a command that had been relieved. But all knew the danger of their position in Brooklyn and were glad to es- cape from its shores.

Throughout the country itself this most successful and difficult movement did not arouse the confidence in the courage of the troops and the ability of its officers which it deserved. It was simply regarded as the nat- ural conclusion to the defeat of the 27th, but military critics from then have been most unstinted in its praise, and now that we can review the situation calmly and correctly it is everywhere conceded to have been one of the noblest military achievements of him whose genius in the field made the Declaration of

Independence a real, enduring and valid in- strument.

With the passage of the Continental troops across the East River the story of the Revo- lutionary campaign on Long Island neces- sarily closes. It is not in keeping with the scope of this work to follow the progress of the Continental troops, to describe the suc- ceeding battles around New York City, by the result of which Washington was compelled to abandon Manhattan Island, and finally, after fighting an indecisive battle at White Plains, to abandon Fort George and Harlem Heights and leave New York completely in the hands of the British. All that belongs to the gen- eral history of the Empire State, or rather of the country at large.

The result of the battle of Brooklyn, so far as our history is concerned, was to leave the British in full control of Long Island, and so it remained along with Manhattan Island until the conclusion of hostilities in 1783, when the British army, by terms of the treaty of peace, sailed out of New York harbor and the Stars and Stripes were hoisted on the historic Bat- tery, the scene of so many stirring and mem- orable events.

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A history of Long Island, from its earliest settlement to the present time, Part 35

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