A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh, Part 24

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. cn
Publication date: 1867
Publisher: Brooklyn : Pub. by subscription
Number of Pages: 536

USA > New York > Kings County > Williamsburgh > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 24
USA > New York > Kings County > Bushwick > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 24
USA > New York > Kings County > Brooklyn > A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh > Part 24

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The first action of the county was in response to a call from a

1 MSS. of General Jeremiah Johnson.

2 The following officers of Brooklyn militia companies had, at this time (March, "76), signed the Declaration and taken their commissions, viz. : Half of Brooklyn. Barent Johnson, Captain ; Barent Lefferts, 1st Lieut. ; Jost Debevoice, 2d Lieut. ; Martin Schenck, Ensign .- Half of Brooklyn. Fer'd Suydam, Captain ; Simon Bergen, 1st Lieut. ; Wm. Brower, 2d Lieut. ; Jacob Stellenwert, Ensign.

The following were the superior or regimental officers of Kings County militia :

Rutgert Van Brunt, Col .; Nich. Cowenhoven, Lieut .- Col .; Johannes Titus, 1st Major ; John Vanderbilt, 2d Major ; Geo. Carpenter, Adj. ; Nich. Cowenhoven, Q. M. -Onderdonk, Kings County, p. 120.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

Committee of Correspondence to the several counties of the colony, requesting them to appoint delegates to a general Provincial Con- vention to be held in the city of New York, on the 20th of April, 1775. At a meeting of the Committee chosen by the several towns of Kings County, at the County Hall in Flatbush, on the 15th of April, all the towns were represented, except Flatlands, which "would not put a negative on the proceedings, but chose to remain neutral." The Brooklyn delegates, on this occasion, were Simon Boerum,1 Henry Williams, Jeremiah Remsen, John Suydam, Johannes Ber- gen, Jacob Sharpe, and Rem Cowenhoven. Mr. Boerum was appointed chairman, when it was "resolved, unanimously, that Simon Boerum, Richard Stillwell, Theodorus Polhemus, Denys Denice, and Jeremiah Vanderbilt, or a major part of them, be appointed Deputies to the Convention for choosing Delegates to the Continental Congress, to be held at Philadelphia in May."2

This Convention closed its session at New York, on the 22d of April ; but, on the next day, the news of the battle of Lexington reached the city, where it created such a profound sensation that, on the 28th, the New York Committee again sent circulars, together with forms of association, to each county, requesting them to choose Deputies to a Provincial Congress to be held on the 24th of May, in order "to deliberate on and direct such measures as may be expedient for our common safety :"

" At a general Town Meeting, regularly warned, at Brooklyn, May 20, '75, the Magistrates and Freeholders met, and voted Jer. Remsen, Esq., into the chair, and Leffert Lefferts, Esq., Clerk.

" Taking into our serious consideration the expediency and propriety of concurring with the freeholders and freemen of the City and County of N. Y., and the other Colonies, Townships, and Precincts, within this Province, for holding a Provincial Congress to advise, consult, watch over and defend, at this very alarming crisis, all our civil and religious rights, liberties and privileges, according to their collective prudence.

1 Simon Boerum's name appears as a Delegate from Kings County, in the first Continental Congress. He died at New York, in 1775; and as the British held possession of Long Island until Nov. 25, 1783, no one appears in his place .- Furman's Notes, viii., p. 223.

2 Onderdonk's Rev. Incidents Kings County, sec. 770.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

" After duly considering the unjust plunder and inhuman carnage com- mitted on the property and persons of our brethren in the Massachusetts, who, with the other N. England Colonies, are now deemed by the Mother Country to be in a state of actual rebellion, by which declaration England hath put it beyond her own power to treat with New England, or to pro- pose or receive any terms of reconciliation, until those Colonies shall submit as a conquered country. The first effort to effect which was by military and naval force ; the next attempt is, to bring a famine among them, by depriving them of both their natural and acquired right of fish- ing. Further, contemplating the very unhappy situation to which the powers at home, by oppressive measures, have driven all the other Prot- estant Provinces, we have all evils in their power to fear, as they have already declared all the Provinces aiders and abettors of rebellion : There- fore,

" 1st, Resolved, That Henry Williams and Jer. Remsen, Esqrs., be now elected Deputies for this Township, to meet, May 22, with other Deputies in Provincial Convention in N. Y., and there to consider, determine and do, all prudential and necessary business.

"2d, Resolved, That we, confiding in the wisdom and equity of said Con- vention, do agree to observe all warrantable acts, associations and orders, as said Congress shall direct.

"Signed by order of the Town Meeting, "LEFFERT LEFFERTS, Clerk."1

Delegates were similarly appointed by the other Kings County towns ; but their zeal was lukewarm, and their subsequent attend- ance so irregular, that in February, 1776, the Convention were obliged to request their more regular appearance.ª It is probable that they but reflected the spirit of their constituency ; for, during the previous winter of 1775-6, many portions of the province, especially on Long Island, had given such evident signs of dis- satisfaction to the American cause as raised the brightest hopes of the loyalist leaders, and excited the apprehensions of the

1 Onderdonk, sec. 771.

? It is to the creJit of Brooklyn that the names of her delegates do not appear among those who are recorded as having complied with this pointed rebuke from the Conven- tion. It may be fairly presumed, therefore, that they had regularly attended to their duties. (See Onderdonk, Rev. Inc. Kings County, sections 772, 784.)

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

Continental Congress, which took prompt measures to arrest its spread and break its power by disarming the Tories.1 About the same time, the realities of war seemed to be brought nearer home to the vacillating patriots of Kings County. Washing- ton, then in command of the patriot army at Boston, which had recently been evacuated by the British, received intelligence of an intended secret expedition by the fleet and troops under Sir Henry Clinton. Rightly divining that the British Ministry had resolved to retrieve the loss of Boston, by removing the seat of war to New York, and thus cut off all intercourse between the New Eng- land and the Southern colonies, he at once comprehended the neces- sity of immediately thwarting the intended manœuvre. Just at this juncture came an urgent request from the sagacious General Charles Lee, at that time in Connecticut, proposing to raise a volunteer force in that colony, and march them to the defence of New York city. The well-timed offer was accepted; and within a fortnight, General Lee, who had been ably seconded by the exertions of the indefatigable Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, was en route for New York, at the head of twelve thousand men. His arrival there (February 3, 1776) was unexpected and sudden, and his first measures so energetic as to reassure the friends of liberty, and effectually to crush out the spirit of Toryism, which had needed but a breath to kindle it into a flame. On the same day on which Lee entered the city, the British general, Clinton, arrived at Sandy Hook, whence he sailed for North Carolina.

Lee lost no time in initiating a system of garrison and forti- fication of the city and its approaches. On the 18th of Febru- ary, he posted 400 of the Pennsylvania troops in Brooklyn, from the Wallabout to the Gowanus-those who could not find lodgment being billeted on the inhabitants, who were allowed 7s. per week for boarding the officers, and 1s. 4d. for privates .? In the midst of his labors, he was superseded (March 6) by Gen. Lord Stirling, and moving southward, was soon engaged in battle, in Charleston har- bor, with Gen. Clinton.

Stirling vigorously prosecuted the defences planned and begun by

1 Sparks' Writings of Washington, iii. 398-400, 440, 469, 470; iv. 86.

2 Onderdonk, Kings Co. sec. 775.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

Lee. The fortifications in progress of erection on Long Island were under the supervision of Col. Ward, in command of 519 men, and the inhabitants of Kings County were ordered by Congress to assist him, by " turning out for service at least one-half their male popula- tion (negroes included) every day, with spades, hoes, and pickaxes ;" and by furnishing brush for fascines, wood for pickets, and other necessary timber. Col. Ward was also ordered to detail two parties of thirty men each, with three days' provisions, for the especial pur- pose of interrupting the communication of persons on shore with the British ship of war Phoenix, by scuttling all boats on the beach below the Narrows, and by seizing pilots-especially one Frank Jones-who decoyed vessels into the hands of the enemy. Six of the Kings County horsemen were detailed as a corps of observation, on some high point at the west end of Long Island, to give informa- tion of the entrance of the enemy into Sandy Hook, or their appear- ance on the coast.1 Capt. Waldron's troop of light-horse, belonging to Brooklyn,2 were employed as videttes along the southern coast of the county until April 10th, when they were relieved by Col. Hand's regiment of riflemen, who were stationed at New Utrecht. Upon Brooklyn Heights a battery of eight guns had been erected (as early as March 24), on land then belonging to Jacob Hicks and others. This work, open in the rear, was nearly opposite Fly Market, at Coenties slip, and was named Fort Stirling.3 It was proposed to erect a citadel in its rear covering about five acres, and to be called The Congress, which, however, was not done.

On the night of the 10th, a body of one thousand Continental

1 Onderdonk, Kings Co., sec. 777, 778, 779.

2 Capt. Waldron's company consisted of the following individuals :

Adolph Waldron, Captain ; William Boerum, 1st Lieut. ; Thomas Everitt, 2d Lieut. ; Jacob Sebring, jr., Cornet ; Isaac Sebring, Q. M. Samuel Etherington, John Reade, Rob. Galbraithe, Rem A. Remsen, David Titus, Jos. Smith, Jacob Kemper, John Guest, Nich. Van Dam, Geo. Powers, William Everitt, John Hicks, Wm. Chardavoyne, Thos. Hazard. This Capt. Waldron was an innkeeper at Brooklyn ferry (ante, pp. 217, 219), and resided, during the war, at Preakness, N. J .- Onderdonk, Kings Co., sec. 773, 779.

3 We are inclined to believe, from the best evidence we can obtain, that this was the same " half-moon fort" upon the edge of the Heights (on the line of present Columbia, between Orange and Clark streets,) which was subsequently garrisoned by Hessian troops, during the British occupation of the town.

May 22d, this fort was garrisoned by Lt. Randell and twelve men, with four 32- pounders and two 18's .- Force, Am. Archives, v. 480.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

troops took possession of Governor's Island and constructed a re- doubt upon its west side, a little southeast of Castle William.1 On the same night a regiment occupied Red Hook, the extreme point of land north of Gowanus Bay, where they constructed a redoubt for one 3-pounder and four 18's. This redoubt, named Fort Defiance, was near the intersection of present Conover and Van Dyke streets, south of the Atlantic Docks.2

On the 14th of April, Washington arrived at New York, and his presence gave a new impulse to the work of defence, which had been so admirably planned and prosecuted by Generals Lee and Stirling ; and, towards the latter part of May, he went to Philadelphia, leaving Gen. Putnam in command at New York, and Gen. Greene stationed at Brooklyn, in charge of the work of fortification there. On the 29th of June, Gen. Howe arrived from Halifax, and on the 8th of July, landed 9,000 troops upon Staten Island, where, within a few days, he was joined by his brother, Admiral Howe, with a large force of Eng- lish regulars and Hessians, and on the 11th by the fragments of the defeated armies of Clinton and Parker, making the whole British force at that place, on shore and water, about 30,000 men. On the 12th of July, the Rose and Phoenix, ships of war, passed the American bat- teries, and went up the Hudson to Haverstraw, with the twofold object of arming the Tories of Westchester and keeping open a communica-

1 Gaine.

" Maj. Shaw, June 11, "76, writes to his family : "I am now stationed at Red Hook, about four miles from New York. It is on an island [the connection between Red Hook and the main land was so slight, and it was so nearly surrounded by water, as to make it seem an island-see Appendix, No. 5], situated in such a manner as to command the entrance of the harbor entirely, where we have a fort with four 18- pounders, to fire en barbette, that is, over the top of the works, which is vastly better than firing through embrasures, as we can now bring all our guns to bear on the same object at once. The fort is named Defiance. It is thought to be one of the most important posts we have. There are two families here-Mr. Van Dyke and his son-good, staunch Whigs, and very clever folks, between whom and our people a very pleasant intercourse subsists. I rode out with the young man, about a week ago, to a place called Flushing, sixteen miles off, where, and in most of the country towns about, the Tories from the city have taken shelter. It is almost incredible how many of these vermin there are. Scarce a house we rode by, but Mr. Van Dyke would say, ' There lives a rascally Tory.'"-Quincy's Mem. of Samuel Shaw, p. 13. Capt. Foster was in command here on May 22, '76 .- Force, v. 480.

When the Rose and Phoenix ran past the American batteries, on the 12th of July, they did not compliment this Red Hook redoubt so much as to return her fire-being, as Shaw relates, two miles distant .- Onderdonk, sec. 187.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

tion with Carleton, who was coming southward by way of Lake Cham- plain. Meanwhile, the patriots were busily hurrying forward the completion of their defences, before the battle which was so unmis- takably approaching. Hulks of vessels were sunk in the channel between Governor's Island and the Battery, and chevaux-de-frise formed to oppose the passage of the British vessels up the East River.1 A large force of troops was concentrated at Brooklyn, under Gen. Greene; Sullivan, with his army, was called from the north, while from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, and New England troops and militia gradually augmented the American army, by the first of August, to some 27,000 men; of whom, however, nearly one-fourth were unfitted for active service by sick- ness. Bilious fever prostrated Gen. Greene about the middle of August, and Sullivan succeeded him at Brooklyn. Governor's Island and Paulus Hook (now Jersey City) were garrisoned, while Gen. George Clinton, at the head of some New York militia, guarded Westchester and King's Bridge from the approach of the British, and Gen. Parson's brigade performed the same service on the East River, at Kip's Bay.

We have evidence, however, that disaffection was still rife in this county ; and that, while the patriot hosts were making this the scene of their most strenuous labors in the defence of a nation's existence, the actual inhabitants and inheritors of its soil were sadly lacking in spirit and unanimity of feeling .? We have previously seen that its representatives had been so irregular in their attendance upon the

I The channel between Long Island and Red Hook was left open, and the British vessels passed up there in the attack, Aug. 27, 1776.

2 July 30, 1776. The Convention received a letter from the captains of the Kings County Militia, requesting to be excused from making a draft of every fourth man (according to Resolutions of Convention, July 19), and saying that they will turn out their whole militia or command to drive stock into the interior, and to guard the coast, etc. It was signed by Jno. Vanderbilt, Lambert Suydam, Barent Johnson, John Titus, Corn. Vanderveer, Rem Williamson, Bernardus Suydam, Adrian Van Brunt, Captains ; but their request was not granted by the Convention .- Force's Am. Archives, vol. i., Fifth Series, p. 1460.

" A Roll of the commissioned officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates of the Troop of Horse in King's County, which were upon duty to drive off the stock, com- menced August 14, 1776. Upon duty and came over from L. I. : Daniel Rappelye, 1st Lieut. ; Jacob Bloom, 2d Lieut .; Peter Vandervoort, Ens. ; Hendrick Johnson, Sgt. ; John Blanco, Trumpeter ; Reyer Suydam, John Vanderveer, Privates. Upon duty, but remained upon L. I. ; Lambert Suydam, Capt .; Peter Wyckoff, Quartermaster ; Hen-

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

sessions of the Convention, as to call forth the special animadver- sion of that body; and now, when every American heart should have been nerved to still greater fortitude, the county towns ap- peared still more " shaky" in their allegiance. On August 14th, Mr. Polhemus appeared in Convention and informed them that Kings County had held no election for deputies since May previous, but that the County Committees had met and requested him to attend as a member until another election. The Convention allowed him to represent the county, except in matters relating to the formation of Government.1 Subsequently, an election held by Kings County, on 19th of August, was declared defective, inasmuch as the Deputies were not authorized to frame a new form of government. A new election was therefore ordered for the 24th of August, but was never held,? as Kings County was then the theatre of actual hostilities. The rumors of disaffection in the country were at this time so strong, that the Provincial Congress ordered a committee to repair thither, and if the reports proved to be well-founded, to disarm and secure the disaffected citizens, remove or destroy the crops, and even, if neces- sary, "lay the whole county waste."3 . The arrest and disarming of the Tories, in accordance with these instructions, was energetically prosecuted, and produced a salutary effect, which would probably have proved permanent, but for the disastrous result of the subse- quent battle of the 27th.

Among the other approaches to the city, that by Long Island had been amply provided for by the skill and forethought of Gens. Greene and Sullivan. In addition to the battery at Red Hook and Fort Sterling, previously mentioned, and which were the first works erected at Brooklyn, the following strong line of fortifications was constructed across the island from the Wallabout to the head of Gowanus Creek.

drick Suydam, Clerk; John Nostrand, Jacob Suydam, Isaac Snediker, Isaac Boerum John Ryerson, Rutgert Vanbrunt, Chas. De Bevois, Benjamin Seaman, Roelof Terhune, Andrew Casper, Thos. Betty, Martin Kershaw, Peter Miller, Hendrick Wyckoff, Pri- vates.

(Signed) " DANIEL RAPPELYE, Lt."

-Force's Am. Archives, vol. i., Fifth Series, 953.

1 Ibid., i. 1506, date Aug. 17, 1776.

2 Ibid., i. 1525, date Aug. 21, 1776.

3 Ibid., i. 1497, date Aug. 19, 1776. Messrs. Duer and Hobart and Colonels Remsen

and De Witt were appointed said committee.

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

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6 Lossing says, "between Smith street anu rupv of Hoyt street at Carroll."

250

HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

(Signed) " DANIEL RAPPELYE, Lt."

-Force's Am. Archives, vol. i., Fifth Series, 953.

1 Ibid., i. 1506, date Aug. 17, 1776.

2 Ibid., i. 1525, date Aug. 21, 1776.

3 Ibid., i. 1497, date Aug. 19, 1776. Messrs. Duer and Hobart and Colonels Remsen and De Witt were appointed said committee.

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These fortifications were :

1. A redoubt, mounting five guns, and called Fort Putnam, which was erected upon a heavily-wooded hill overlooking the Wallabout, now known as Fort Greene, or Washington Park.1 When cleared of its trees, this was a fine position, commanding the East River and the roads leading into Brooklyn from the country.

2. A line of intrenchment extending northwesterly from Fort Putnam down the hill to a spring, then on the verge of the Walla- bout .?

3. A line of intrenchment, extending in a zigzag course south- westerly from Fort Putnam across the old Jamaica turnpike (now Fulton avenue),3 and along the crest of the high land between and nearly parallel with Nevins and Bond streets to the head of Gowanus Creek (Freeck's mill-pond), at about the junction of present Bond and Warren streets.4

4. Upon the land then belonging to John Johnson, and about mid- way between Fort Putnam and the Jamaica Turnpike® (at junction of present DeKalb avenue and Hudson street), and adjoining the line of intrenchment, was another small redoubt.

5. On "Bergen's Hill," between Smith and Court street, in the vicinity of First Place, was another redoubt, mounting four guns, which was probably the one named Fort Box.6 It was subsequently strengthened and occupied by the British; and as late as 1852, but-

1 This hill, at the time of the Revolution, belonged to John Cowenhoven, sen., his son, Rem Cowenhoven, and Casper Wooster, and was known, from its heavy timber, as " Cowenhoven's boschje," or woods.

2 Lossing (Field Book of the Revolution, ii. 806) says that the site of this spring was marked (in 1852) by a pump in a tannery near the intersection of Flushing avenue and Portland street.

3 The large sycamore-tree, just above "The Abbey" on the north side of Fulton, a little above its junction with De Kalb avenue (and which was cut down in the fall of 1859-Ed.), is believed to have marked the point where the line of intrenchment (which was also renewed in the war of 1812-14) crossed the Jamaica road .- Furman MSS., vii. 251. No. 159 Fulton avenue now (1867) marks the site of the tree above mentioned.

4 Lossing says, "across the Flatbush road, near the junction of Flatbush avenue and Powers street, to Freek's Mill Pond, at the head of Gowanus Creek, near the junction of Second avenue and Carroll street ;", but this would have carried the line of intrenchment along the low lands, which was not probable.

5 Lossing says, " a little eastward of Fort Putnam, near the Jamaica road."

6 Lossing says, " between Smith street and First avenue, not far from the termination of Hoyt street at Carroll."

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HISTORY OF BROOKLYN.

tons marked " 42" (42d Highlanders) were found on its site. In 1812, this fortification was restored and called "Fort Lawrence."

6. On the land of Johannes Debevoise and Rutgert Van Brunt, half way between the Jamaica road and Brower's mill-pond, prob- ably between Atlantic and Pacific, Nevins and Bond streets, a re- doubt was erected, mounting five guns, and called Fort Greene.

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A history of the city of Brooklyn : including the old town and village of Brooklyn, the town of Bushwick, and the village and city of Williamsburgh, Part 24

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. cn Publication date: 1867 Publisher: Brooklyn : Pub. by subscription Number of Pages: 536

Author: Stiles, Henry Reed, 1832-1909. cn
Publication date: 1867
Publisher: Brooklyn : Pub. by subscription
Number of Pages: 536