USA > New York > A history of New York, for schools. Vol. II > Part 15
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sport. When I saw it about to commence I fled to the most distant part of the ship.
" On the commencement of the first evening, we were driven down to darkness between decks, secur- ed by iron gratings, and an armed soldiery. And now a scene of horrour, which baffles all descrip- tion, presented itself. On every side wretched, des- ponding shapes of men, could be seen. Around the well-room an armed guard were forcing up the prisoners to the winches, to clear the ship of water, and prevent her sinking, and little else could be heard but a roar of mutual execrations, reproaches, and insults. During this operation there was a small dim light admitted below, but it served to make darkness more visible, and horrour more ter- rifick. In my reflections I said, this must be a complete image and anticipation of hell."
" When I first became an inmate of this abode of suffering, despair, and death, there were about four hundred prisoners on board, but in a short time they amounted to twelve hundred. And in propor- tion to our numbers, the mortality increased.
" All the most deadly diseases were pressed into ' the service of the king of terrours, but his prime- ministers were dysentery, small pox, and yellow fever. There were two hospital ships near to the old Jersey, but these were soon so crowded with the sick, that they could receive no more. The conse- quence was, that the discased and the healthy were mingled together in the main ship. In a short time we had two hundred or more sick and dying, lodged in the fore part of the lower gun deck, where all the prisoners were confined at night. Utter de- rangement was a common symptom of yellow fever, and to increase the horrour of the darkness that shrouded us, (for we were allowed no liglu be- twixt decks,) the voice of warning would be heard,
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Take heed to yourselves; there is a mad mau stalking through the ship with a knife in his hand.' I sometimes found the man a corpse in the morning by whose side I laid myself down at night. At another time he would become deranged, and attemp: in darkness to rise and stumble over the bodies that every where covered the deck. In this case I had to hold him in his place by main strength. In spite of my efforts he would sometimes rise, and then I had to close in with him, trip up his heels, and lay him again upon the deck. While so many were sick with raging fever, there was a loud cry for water, but none could be had except on the upper deck, and but one allowed to ascend at a time. The suffering then from the rage of thirst during the night was very great. Nor was it at all times safe to attempt to go up. Provoked by the continual cry for leave to ascend, when there was already one on deck, the sentry would push them back with his bay- onet. By one of these thrusts, which was more spiteful and violent than common, I had a narrow escape of my life. In the morning the hatchways were thrown open, and we were allowed to ascend, all at once, and remain on the upper deck during the day. But the first object that met our view in the morning was a most appalling spectacle. A boat loaded with dead bodies, conveying them to the Long Island shore, where they were very slightly covered with sand. I sometimes used to stand to count the number of times the shovel was filled ( with sand to cover a dead body. And certain I am that a few high tides or torrents of rain must have disinterred them. And had they not been removed, I should suppose the shore, even now, would be cov. ered with huge piles of the bones of American sea- then. There were, probably, four hundred on board
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who had never had the small-pox,-some, perhaps, might have been saved by inoculation.
".But humanity was wanting to try even this ex- periment .- Let our disease be what it would, we were abandoned to our fate. Now and then an American physician was brought in as a captive, but if he could obtain his parole he left the ship, nor could we much blame him for this; for his own death was next to certain, and his success in saving others by medicine in our situation was small. I remember only two American physicians who tarried on board a few days. No English physician, or any one from the city, ever, to my knowledge, came near us. "There were thirteen of the crew to which I belonged, but in a short time all but three or four were dead. The most healthy and vigorous were first seized with the fe- ver, and died in a few hours. For them there seem- ed to be no mercy. My constitution was less mus- cular and plethoric, and I escaped the fever longer than any of the thirteen except one, and the first onset was less violent.
" There is one palliating circumstance as to the inhumanity of the British which ought to be men- tioned. The prisoners were furnished with buckets and brushes to cleanse the ship, and with vinegar to sprinkle her inside. But their indolence and despair were such that they would not use them, or but rarely. And, indeed, at this time, the encour- agement to do it was small. For the whole ship, from her keel to the tafferel, was equally infected, and contained pestilence sufficient to desolate a world; disease and death were wrought into her very timbers. At the time I left, it is to be presum- ed, a more filthy, contagious, and deadly abode for human beings, never existed among a christianized people. It fell but little short of the black hole at
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Calcutta. Death was more lingering, but almost equally certain.
" If there was any principle among the prison- ers that could not be shaken, it was the love of their country. I knew no one to be seduced into the British service. They attempted to force one of our prize brig's crew into the navy, but he chose rather to die than perform any duty, and he was again restored to the prison-ship."
Un. In addition to the testimony of Mr. Andros, I have that of an aged gentleman still residing with us, who confirms the statement made in the book. Ile says, he was an officer on board the United States frigate Confederacy, and was captured by two Eng- glish frigates. Being at the time of capture sick, he was put on board one of the hulks in the Walla- bout that served as a hospital ship for convales- cents, but was as soon as somewhat restored trans- ferred to the " Old Jersey," to make room for others more helpless. Here he experienced all the suffer- ings, and witnessed the horrours, described by An- dros, for five months. The confinement in so crowd- ed a place, the pestilential air, the putrid and da- maged food given to the prisoners, (procured by the commissaries for little or nothing, and charged to the English government at the prices of the best provisions,) soon produced a fever, under which this young man suffered without medicine or attendance, until nature, too strong for even such enemies, re- storel him to a species of health, again to be pros- trated by the same causes. He says, he never saw given to the prisoners one ounce of wholesome food. The loathsome beef they prepared by pressing, and then threw it, with damaged bread, into the kettle, skimming off the previous tenants of this poisonous food as they rose to the top of the vessel.
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John. And for the sake of money, did men so tor- ture and poison their fellow-men ?
Un. Even so, my son. And these commissaries became rich, and revelled in luxuries, hearing the groans of their victims daily, and seeing the bodies of those who were relieved from torture by death, carried by boat loads to be half-buried in the sands of the Wallabout. The testimony proving these atrocities cannot be doubted. Yet, in answer to the remonstrances of General Washington, Admiral Ar- buthnot denied the charge altogether.
John. What became of this young American ?
Un. To save his life, he accepted the offer of the purser to become his deputy, and was then removed from the darkness, filth, stench, and horrible sounds, which assailed him in the dungeons of this floating hell. In the office of deputy-purser he fared well, and recovered health. He witnessed a mode of cheating practised by the clerks and underlings, less criminal than that of the commissaries of pris- oners. Such of the captives as had money were liberated by bargain with these officials, and return- ed on the report as dead; and the deaths were so many, that this passed without inquiry.
Wm. How did the prisoners preserve their money when taken ?
Un. By providently, when at liberty, sewing gold in pieces of canvass, and fastening them under their trowsers, to serve in time of adversity.
John. How could these subaltern officers or clerks liberate the prisoners, sir ?
Un. A boat would be brought to the ship at night, and by a system of collusion, the person who had bought his liberty would be removed on some spe- cious pretence. Faith was kept with them to en- courage others in the same process
WVm. Uncle, I am almost sick of war.
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Un. I hope all mankind will be sick of it, boy.
John. The sufferings of the prisoners on shore were not so great, I hope.
Un. Let me finish all I have to say on this sub- ject, and we will turn to one of a different charac- ter. When a boy I went to school in Little Queen street, now Cedar street, and my seat at the desk, in an upper room of a large storehouse kind of build- ing, placed me in full view of the Sugar-house, cor- ner of Crown, now Liberty street, and Nassau street. You have noticed the tall pile of building with lit- tle port-hole windows tier above tier. In that place crowds of American prisoners were incarcerated, pined, sickencd, and died. During the suffocating heat of summer, when my school room windows were all open, and I could not catch a cooling breeze, - I saw opposite to me every narrow aperture of those stone walls filled with human heads, face above face, seeking a portion of the external air. What must have been the atmosphere within ? Andros's de- scription of the prison ship tells us. Child as I was, this spectacle sunk deep in my heart. I can see the picture now.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
Un. In our last walk through Broadway, I prom- ised you some account of the old Trinity church, which was burnt in the great fire of 1776. I here present you with a picture of the ruins as they stood until after the revolution. This edifice, frequently called in the old records of our city, "the English church," was built, says Smith, the historian, " in 1696, and afterward enlarged in 1737. It stands," says he, writing in 1757, "very pleasantly upon the banks of Hudson's river." The present Trinity church occupies the same ground.
Phil. I am sure, Uncle, it is not near the river.
John. There is Lumber street, Greenwich, Wash- ington, and West streets, between its cemetery and the river.
Un. Yet the scite of the present church was, in
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1757, on the banks of the river. Smith continues, " and has a large cemetery on each side, enclosed in the front, by a painted paled fence. Before it a long walk is railed off, from the Broadway, the pleasant- est street of any in the whole town." This walk, during the occupancy of the city by the English as enemies, was called " the Mall," and every morning there paraded the troops destined as guards for the different posts of the garrison; the " main guard" being the City hall in Wall street. In the evening, during summer, "the Mall" was the fashionable walk for ladies and gentlemen, while in the church- yard a band of military musick turned the thoughts of the promenaders far from the dead within the palings, or the ruins which stood as a monument of the horrours of war. Read what the historian gives as the dimensions of Trinity church, in 1757.
John. "One hundred and forty-eight feet long, in- cluding the tower and chancel, and seventy-two feet in breadth. The steeple is one hundred and ser- enty-five feet in height." "The church is within ornamented beyond any place of the kind amongst us. The head of the chancel is adorned with an altar-piece, and opposite to it. at the other end of the building, is the organ. The tops of the pillars which support the galleries are decked with the gilt busts of angels winged. From the ceiling are sus- pended two glass branches, and on the walls hang the arms of some of its principal benefactors. The alleys are paved with flat stones."
Un. Such was Trinity church when I saw it in 1775; at that time its pictures and winged angels made an impression on my mind never to be effaced. In 1777, I saw it as in the little picture I give you. I will now procced with the political events of that period, and one of great consequence was organizing the government of the state of New York. A con-
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vention for this purpose was called in April, 1777, amidst the tumults of war; and on the 8th of May, an ordinance was passed at Kingston, by which fif- teen native citizens of the state, (among whom were John Morin Scott, Robert R. Livingston, Gov- erneur Morris, John Jay, John Sloss Hobart, and other patriots,) or a majority of them, were consti- tuted a council of safety, and invested with all the powers necessary for the preservation of the state, until a meeting of the legislature; provided, that the executive powers of the state shall be vested in the governor as soon as he shall be chosen and admit- ted into office, and taken the oaths of allegiance and of office.
Wm. And Governor George Clinton was chosen. But who did he swear allegiance to, Uncle ?
Un. To the people, boy. The people, for whose benefit all legitimate government is instituted. This convention chose the following officers: Robert R. Livingston, chancellor; John Jay, chief-justice; Rob- ert Yates, and John Sloss Hobart, judges; and Eg- bert Benson, attorney-general. These gentlemen were to hold their offices, if approved by the council of appointment, at their first session ; and, if so ap- proved, during good behaviour.
John. The king's governor, Tryon, dissolved the legislature of New York, in 1775. When did the governor elected to serve the people meet the peo- ple's representatives ?
Un. The legislature met at Kingston, on the 1st of September, 1777, but did not form a quorum un- til the 10th ; when Governor Clinton, in his speech, applauded the garrison of Fort Schuyler, spoke of the brave General Herkimer, and praised the mili- tia of Tryon county. He mentioned in terms of ex- ultation the complete victory near Bennington, gain- ed by the militia of New Hampshire, Massachu-
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setts and the northeastern counties of New York. At this time the legislature sent delegates to the con- tinental congress.
John. Who were they, sir ?
Un. Philip Livingston, James Duane, Francis Lewis, William Duer, and Governeur Morris. The assembly was interrupted in its work of peace by the attack upon the Highlands, and was dissolved Octo- ber 7th; but on the 5th of January, 1778, they met again, at Poughkeepsie. On the 18th of June, 1778. the British army, under the conduct of Sir Henry Clinton, (Howe having been recalled, and abdicated the command,) left Philadelphia, and bent their way, through New Jersey, towards the seacoast. . Wash- ington moved in pursuit. Lee having been ex- changed for General Prescott, the commander-in- chief had the misfortune of being nominally served by his oldest major-general, who was fully convin- ced that his judgment, knowledge, and skill, were superiour to those of his commander. On the 24th of July, a council of war was held at Hopewell, in which Lee strenuously opposed bringing the enemy to a general action ; and his rank, added to his reputation, influenced the decision of the younger officers. The council decided against it. It was determined that a large detachment should be push- ed forward to attack the rear of the retiring army, and this detachment fell to the command of Lee, as the senior officer, although he opposed the measure. Lafayette offered, if Lee was disinclined to this ser- vice, to take the command; and Lee consented, say- ing, he disapproved of the plans of the general, was sure they would fail, and was glad not to be respon- sible. Unfortunately, he changed his mind, and wrote a letter to the commander-in-chief, requiring to lead this important detachment. Lafayette would not consent after what had passed, but finally agreed to
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resign the command to Lee, provided the enemy were not brought to action that day; the day pass- ed-the action took place the next day; Lee re- treated contrary to Washington's orders, who meet- ing him retiring before the enemy, reprimanded him publickly. The general pushed forward to meet the advancing army, drove them from the field of battle with the loss of upwards of two hun- dred and fifty privates and officers, killed, and a great number borne off wounded during the night, which they took advantage of to move silently away towards their ships. Washington was well supported by Morgan, Dickenson, Lafayette, Wayne, Greene, Stirling, and most of his officers, and his loss was seven officers, and fifty-two privates, killed; one hundred and thirty-seven officers and privates wound- cd. The day was one of the hottest ever known in America, and many brave men are said to have died untouched by any foe but heat and fatigue. The British escaped to their ships, and the Ameri- cans bent their course towards the Hudson.
John. What became of Lee, sir ?
Un. Ile was put under arrest ; tried for disobe- dience of orders in not attacking the enemy, for making an unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat, and for disrespect to the commander-in-chief, in two letters addressed to him. On the 12th of August, the court martial found him guilty of all the charges, and sentenced him to be suspended from command for twelve months. Congress approved the sentence, and Lee was deprived of the power of future mischief, except by writing, and complaining. I will now relate an occurrence belonging to the history of our city, which caine under my own ob- servation. It is recorded that the winter of 1779-80, was one of the most severe ever known here, and I remember the preceding summer as one of the hot-
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. test I cver experienced. I have mentioned the suf- ferings from heat at the battle of Monmouth, on the 28th of June ; and on the night of the 7th of August, I remember well that I lay panting for air on the floor near a window, having left my bed, when I was roused from imperfect sleep by the cry of fire, and the ringing of alarm bells. In those days such alarms were rarely known, and it was probably the first time I had ever heard the terrifick sound. I started up, and saw every thing around illuminated by the blaze. Three hundred houses were rapidly consumed ; all Dock street and Little Dock street, with many buildings adjacent. This was called the second great fire. In the morning I visited the ruins, and assisted a schoolmate to rescue and guard some remaining furniture belonging to his widowed mo- ther. Well I remember looking at the sun through the smoke, with wonder at his fiery face disfigured by the curling masses of black and red smoke, as they mounted from the half burnt buildings. There were no fire companies organized, as had previously been; the citizens were accustomed to form ranks from a pump or reservoir, and each to bring the buckets of his house in case of fire; but on this occa- sion the military interfered, and, perhaps intending well, aided the work of destruction. The heat ofthe 8th of August, 1778, was intolerable, and the spirits of the people of New York depressed by the recent conflagration. About two o'clock, masses of black
clouds overshadowed us from the west, and a thun- der-storm commenced with violence; but the flashes of lightning, or the deafening peals of thunder, did not prevent my father's family from sitting down to dinner, for it was while thus engaged that a crash startled every one from his seat, the house appeared to shake, papers that had been left near an open chamber window came fluttering down in fantastich
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gyrations-"the house is struck !" was the cry, which seemed to be confirmed, as the tiled roof on the front rattled to the pavement, and torrents of rain poured in without impediment.
John. Struck by the lightning, sir ?
Un. On running into the street it was seen that all the houses with tiled roofs were in the same situation. Consternation was general, and the cause unknown of so violent and extensive a concussion. But soon was seen a black column of smoke rising in the cast far over the houses, and while gazing at this new phenomenon, one arrived from the east riverside of the town, and explained the awful ap- pearances. A powder vessel, lying off in the stream, had been struck by the lightning, and exploded, pro- ducing the startling effects we had witnessed. Ev- ery house facing the river was uncovered, in front, to the pelting rain, and every face that was seen look- ed horrour struck.
John. And those in the powder-ship, sir ?
Un. It was a sloop, not a ship, and had been left in charge of a boy, who was the only person that suffered death. Such is my recollection of the night and day of the second great fire. I remember that day as one of gloom and darkness.
John. How was our legislature occupied, sir ?
Un. The house met and proceeded to business on the 15th of January, 1778, as though they had not been disturbed by a foreign enemy in the pre- ceding year. After resolving on measures of de- fence, the differences with their neighbours occupi- ed them. They asserted that the state ought to exert its undoubted supremacy over persons and property in the northeastern part thereof. They made overtures of accommodation respecting cer- tain titles to land, provided the persons, before the Ist of May, 1778, renounced allegiance "to the pre- VOL. 11 .- 19
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tended state of Vermont." They said, New York will take necessary measures to compel all persons refusing obedience to the government of the state, "to yield it." And the governor was requested to issue his proclamation accordingly. On the 22d of June, Governor Clinton, by message, told the as. sembly that he had issued his proclamation pursu- ant to their resolve; and that he had pressed for an express and unequivocal declaration of the sense of congress on the subject. He said that the result of the application to congress ought to be patiently ex- pected, before any coercive steps be taken to reduce the delinquents, who aim at independency under the title of the state of Vermont, to a sense of duty. But the assembly resolved, at every hazard, to main- tain the jurisdiction of the state throughout the whole of its territory."
John. And yet, sir, the little state of Vermont has done very well.
Un. I believe they are satisfied with managing their own affairs without our advice or assistance.
John. Who represented New York in congress at this time ?
Un. James Duane, Governeur Morris, Philip Schuyler, William Floyd, and Francis Lewis.
WVm. I am glad General Schuyler is one. I am sure he would do nothing against Washington.
Un. I believe all the New York delegation were " good men and true." Now for our walk.
CHAPTER XIX.
Un. I will mention some of the military move- ments and actions, for and against our cause, that
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happened within the limits I have assigned to my historical instruction. One of the most heart-rend- ing, took place at Cherry Valley, in November, 1778: this place was then a frontier settlement, and Colonel Alden had recently been stationed there, with a regiment from Massachusetts. A noted par- tizan, of the name of Walter Butler, who delighted in Indian warfare, and was more a savage than the savages he led, (a mass of tories, and of Indians, under Brandt, such as had been, at various periods, directed by the English leaders against the settle- ments west of Albany.) This man, knowing the country better than Alden, took him by surprise, notwithstanding he had had warning, and massa- cred, not only him and many of his men, but the inhabitants of every age and description. Men, women, and children, were butchered in cold blood. You will read this transaction, and much else, well told, in Mr. Campbell's Annals of Tryon county. This murderous affair, and a similar massacre at Wyoming, led to the determination of sending a force to lay waste the Indian settlements. Gen- eral Sullivan accepted the command, refused by Gates, and marching through part of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, arrived at the desolated Wyo- ming, on the 17th of June, 1779. Here, every thing being prepared, on the last of July the army pushed forward upon the Indian settlements, the stores and artillery passing up the Susquehanna in one hun- dred and fifty boats. Having destroyed an Indian town, and built a fort, Sullivan awaited the junction of another portion of his army, which approached (under General James Clinton) by the way of the Mohawk. Clinton, with Colonel Marinus Willet, and other New York officers, carried the scourge of retribution upon the Onondagas, burning their vil- lage, and laying waste their corn-fields, after a skir-
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